


Always Cool Enough For a Drink

by shadowstrangle



Series: Always Cool Enough For a Drink (And Other Things) [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, Drinks With Friends, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, GaaSaku - Freeform, GaaraSaku, Kazekage Gaara (Naruto), Post-Naruto Time Skip | Naruto Shippuden, ShikaTema, Smut, cool gaara, cute dates, fluffy fluff a lot of it, friends who have sex, he has plants, he's funny, long distance, medical ninja sakura, or is it something more, sakugaara, soft gaara, suna, wholesome big brother kankuro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowstrangle/pseuds/shadowstrangle
Summary: There's a new medical corp being formed between the Sand and the Leaf. Sakura heads over to Suna, and teases Gaara into some drinks. The night carries  them somewhere they didn't think they'd end up.[alternatively, the Kazekage and Konoha's top medical ninja get drunk and wake up in Gaara's bed. They end up an unlikely pair.]
Relationships: Gaara & Haruno Sakura, Gaara/Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru/Temari
Series: Always Cool Enough For a Drink (And Other Things) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951945
Comments: 74
Kudos: 228





	1. Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Getting back into my Naruto phase after watching during quarantine. My love for Gaara and Sakura never mixed together until I saw some fanart, and this ship needs to see the light of day. 
> 
> Anyone interested in writing or geeking out with me is more than welcome to message me on here or on Tumblr at shadowstrangle!!

It wasn’t like either of them had ever predicted it. Love finds its way in somehow, whether it blows in through the land of Fire or tiptoes into the Land of Wind. Sometimes it just connects the two. 

It was like having feelings made Gaara attractive. Often, besides his soft face, his gentle air was something that drew people to him, with eyes full of history and understanding rather than malice. Suddenly, as he learned to attribute himself to the world around him, he was beginning to comprehend that he could be a part of it. He tended to keep that to himself, though. Despite becoming the Kazekage, all the company in the world couldn’t convince Gaara that he wasn’t better off alone. Even with the respect he’d gained from his colleagues, anxiety told him they were still petrified of him. That he was a monster. Sometimes he remembered it. Other times, he chose to forget. 

Some people overlooked this part of him- or rather, recognized that he knew how to control it now. Temari and Kankuro were always a conversation away. Letters came from Konoha wishing happiness and health. Gaara had finally become a human being, part of the society that he had worked so hard to learn to protect. 

So maybe that was why he was starting to think about a little more. 

Maybe it was watching the way Temari would show Shikamaru around the sand’s best markets whenever he was in town, insisting that he carry her shopping while he had the time. It could’ve been hearing Kankuro stumble in every Friday night after spending a night playing at the casino with some girls. Gaara always cited business and his duty to the village as a precedent to his own personal life, but every now and then, he wondered. 

He usually came to the conclusion that he should focus on other things. 

Gaara had plenty to worry about, anyway. With the creation of a joint medical committee between Konoha and Suna, there had been lots of communications coming through each village, and countless meetings that he had to sit through. When he did have time for himself, he wasn’t really one to go out for drinks like Kankuro, and he didn’t have anybody to write letters to, like Temari. She’d always lie about it, but every Tuesday, something came out for Shikamaru Nara, and something would come back for her by Thursday. 

Gaara didn’t drink, didn’t smoke. He spent a lot of calm afternoons and evenings cracking open a book. The Suna weather was always something he liked to sit outside in. He enjoyed his work, and serving the village. Plus, with the view from his apartment, he could see the entire village. It was comforting to him to know they were safe. Of course, his sand covered the exterior of the village, so he usually could sense who was coming in and out, but a visual was also nice. 

~ ~ ~

The chakra entering into the village at around 11 that night is familiar. 

It’s so familiar it has Gaara pause in getting ready for bed. Not only are these people he knows, close and important to him, but it signifies business, so even if he’s a little bit sleepy, he pulls his shirt back over his head and gets ready again. It seemed the Kazekage never slept. That was an understatement. Even without Shukaku, he usually got a few hours at best. Except now, he could feel the fatigue of it.

He stifles a yawn, slipping bare feet into his shoes, and then his kage robe over his head, and makes his way to his office. Gaara already knows who is waiting there for him. 

“Sakura,” he smiles kindly, professionally, nodding his head towards her as his eyes scan the room. “And Shikamaru. How nice to see you both. I only got word of Sakura coming on behalf of the medical corp,” Gaara notes. 

Nearly blushing, Shikamaru’s hand finds the back of his neck. “I have some business here. Not related to the medical corp,” he says, which makes Sakura laugh. A relationship between villages was a story that crossed village lines, and people were generally excited about Shikamaru and Temari seeing each other. It wasn’t really a secret anymore. 

“You guys are here early. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow morning,” says Gaara. “The walk must have been easy. I’m sure you’re tired. Has anyone shown you to your accommodations?”

Shikamaru doesn’t have the heart to tell Gaara where his “accommodations” are. 

“Baki met us at the gate,” Sakura answers for the both of them. “I just figured I would come by here first to send the paperwork over. I could have given it to an advisor. I hope we didn’t wake you?”

The dark circles around Gaara’s eyes are a bit telling. Instead of Shukaku, Sakura believes that it’s an overactive brain. Overworked Kazekage, much?

“A pleasant hello beats an extra half hour of sleep,” says Gaara, “but no, you didn’t wake me. It’s alright.”

“Well, then, if you have paperwork to go over with Gaara, I’ll be going,” sighs Shikamaru. “The walk was already troublesome enough. I’m ready to go to sleep. Send for me if you need anything.” He says this, but is already half out of the office. Sakura won’t be sending for him, anyway. 

It’s quiet as they watch Shikamaru disappear down the hall.

Sakura opens her mouth to essay something, presumably about the medical corp, but Gaara interrupts with, “You look well.”

He’s always so stoic. She never knows what he’s thinking. He’s the pinnacle of politeness and professionalism. 

“Thank you,” Sakura smiles, and looks up at him. She’s fairly tall, but it seemed that he’d grown. He has a head on her now. “You look stressed. I can see it in your shoulders,” she notes, adding a playful smile so he wouldn’t be offended, “but well otherwise.”

Gaara looks down at himself as if he could see signs of stress on the tips of his shoulders. “I’m not stressed,” he says, but realizes how tight he is holding his body. He laughs as he rolls his shoulders back. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“It has been a lot, especially with the new committees,” Sakura says sympathetically, “you should take a break.”

“I take plenty,” assures Gaara, to which Sakura looks at him skeptically. 

“Yeah? I don’t know about you, but when our Hokage takes breaks, they’re breaks.” Nobody pounds back a bottle of sake better than Tsunade. 

“I have been invited on occasion,” Gaara laughs.

Sakura doesn’t think she’s ever had this casual of a conversation with Gaara. She’s always known that he’s a pleasant person to be around, but he’s sometimes a little awkward, according to Shikamaru. Or maybe that’s just men. He does fine around Naruto. To see Gaara laugh, though, seems like a rare occurrence. She wonders what a belly laugh looks like. “Invited?” She laughs. “Did you go?!”

“I was actually underage last time,” points out Gaara, “I was seventeen.” That was about three years ago. He’s nearly twenty one now. 

Sakura knows how Tsunade gets when she’s drunk. She assumes this to be completely true. “Let’s go for a drink,” she says cheerfully. “You’re of age now, aren’t you?” She teases lightly. It is only eleven. All the late night shops are hitting their prime hours right about now. 

Gaara almost tilts his head in surprise. The only person who usually asks him to go out is Kankuro. “Me?” He asks, and he has to laugh. 

“What? You think because you’re the Kazekage you’re too cool to go for drinks with me?” Sakura asks. “I’m joking,” she adds, when Gaara blanches. 

Gaara isn’t even a drinker, has maybe gone out once or twice just because he wanted to. Something inside of him tells him it’s a good thing, though. He should go get some drinks with a friend tonight. “Is that all to do now that we are old?” He asks, throws back a joke of his own. “I am always cool enough for a drink with the Leaf,” he responds.

Sakura almost chokes when he seems to be taking his clothes off, but it’s just his white Kage robe. He hangs it on the door. Why did she think it would be anything different? “It’s unnecessary,” he explains. His hair is a little messed up from pulling the robe over his head, red spikes even more haphazard than usual. 

Sakura just smiles in response, and then they’re headed outside. The nights get chilly in Suna, but the walk is brief, and the two of them are seated at a tiny little bar within some time. The bar owner is of course elated to see Gaara.

“Lord Kazekage! What can I get for you? It’s an honor, sir, truly- it’s on the house.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” says Gaara, and in the spirit of Tsunade, they order a bottle to share between them. When the bartender is turned around, Gaara places a few bills on the table that are more than enough to cover what their check would’ve been. It’s not like Sakura is surprised at the money. He’s the Kazekage, after all. 

Sitting beside him like this, she realizes this is the first time they’ve ever really spent time together. He’s a quiet person; a guarded one, and never seems like he has fun on his agenda. 

“I love coming here,” says Sakura. “The nights are so peaceful. Konoha is very loud, you know?”

“Konoha is loud,” seconds Gaara. “I can never sleep when I stay there.” He usually can’t sleep in general. “But I do love my village, too.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence between them, and Sakura decides to fill it by pouring two shots. She slides him one. If he’s honest, Gaara isn’t even sure he remembers what sake tastes like. 

“To finally being friends, huh?” Sakura says, as she raises her shot up. This makes Gaara smile as they clink their glasses together. 

“Friends,” he repeats, and they both tip one back. 

Sakura, like Tsunade herself, doesn’t flinch. Gaara makes a face, the most honest expression Sakura has seen from him. It’s more of a grimace than anything else, and he waits for the sake to trickle down his throat, filling his chest with warmth. Supposedly this is being an adult.

“Can you tell I don’t drink very often?” He asks, a smile on his thin lips, green eyes crinkling at the corners. Poking fun at himself is something that his siblings helped him a lot with.

Sakura brightens. He’s joking around with her. She would’ve never expected this. Maybe she’s just used to these broody, serious guys. Sasuke in particular, but she pushes that to the back of her brain. She rarely thinks about him anymore. “I think I could. You looked a little something like this,” she says, and scrunches her nose up in distaste, something like a baby trying a lemon for the first time. 

Gaara laughs, like he did before in the office, and Sakura feels some strange sort of lucky to be able to hear it. It makes her laugh, too. 

This time, he’s the one that reaches for the bottle, and pours them another two. “Another?” Sakura laughs, to which Gaara replies with, “I’m the Kazekage; I can do whatever I want.”

The two of them toast again, shot glasses going back. This time, Gaara feels like he’s done a better job, although he’s still not quite sure where the pleasure is in this. 

“It’s nice to catch up with you,” says Gaara genuinely. He shifts boyishly, rests his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm. He’s letting his guard down. “How are all of your comrades? I heard Naruto’s developing his own jutsu.”

“Everyone is doing well. You know Naruto. He goes and he goes and he goes,” Sakura speaks fondly of her friend. Her green eyes widen, and she gasps. “And you! What about Shikamaru and Temari, huh? Did you ever see that coming? They’re sweet…”

At this, Gaara shrugs. “Shikamaru is a respectable man. I trust him. On top of that, my sister can carry herself, and I trust her opinion, too. I think they’re good together, but it’s not like I know anything about that,” he says honestly. 

Gaara’s only been on a few dates in his life, and they haven’t really amounted to anything. Now that he’s receiving positive attention from his village, he actually has a lot of suitors, but he’s not very interested. 

“No? There’s nobody special?” Asks Sakura, eyes twinkling, mirrors his pose. 

“You are correct,” answers Gaara. He’s content with this. 

“Me either,” pouts Sakura. “Men are all the same!” This causes her to reach for the bottle. She’s not really upset about being single, either. The right thing will come around. 

“There is beauty in the element of the self,” says Gaara. He pushes his shot glass towards Sakura so she can give him a third one, too. Now they’ll be getting somewhere, apparently. He hadn’t anticipated quite getting drunk. 

“You talk like a poetry book sometimes,” laughs Sakura, after they share their third shot. Her cheeks are getting pink, Gaara notices, and they compliment her hair. 

“You know? My siblings say that too. I don’t understand it. Explain it to me.”

“You…” Sakura laughs, “I don’t know. Do you ever let loose? Do you ever swear?”

“Swear?”

“Swear.”

“I’m a Kage.”

“Just swear!”

“Not in front of a lady.”

“Ah, you’re no fun,” grins Sakura. Holding up the bottle, she shakes it side to side, to listen to how much liquor is left. “We might as well finish it,” she suggests.

Gaara is already feeling a tad fuzzy. A fourth shot will have him singing, he bets. “No use in wasting.” He nods his head for Sakura to pour the last one. 

Sakura can’t stop giggling after the last one. Gaara usually sees her in battle, but in the few times they’ve been together, she’s never laughed like this. 

“Well? Are you drunk, Kazekage?” 

“I am not, I am a Kage,” says Gaara, but the laugh he lets out afterwards says otherwise. 

They’re interrupted by a loud voice, some jeering, and a laugh Gaara knows all too well. Peeling up the blinds of the bar, Kankuro tumbles in, an arm slung around Gaara’s shoulders. He reeks of liquor- a typical Friday night for his elder brother. 

“Sakura! You got this one out?!” Kankuro musses Gaara’s hair drunkenly. “Nice to see you, though. Looking great..” Gaara’s still swatting his brother. Ninjutsu aside, Kankuro’s just bigger than him, plain and simple. 

“You too, Kankuro. I almost didn’t recognize you without the facepaint.” He really is sort of handsome like this. Rasa and Karura had made some good children. All three of the sand siblings were pretty easy on the eyes. 

To no surprise, there is a girl trailing behind Kankuro, presumably one that will spend the night in his bed and be walking home tomorrow with one of his shirts. “Gaara, this is…” Kankuro looks over at her, cannot remember her name, and looks back at his friends. “The most beautiful woman in the world,” he flounders, and Sakura looks less than impressed. 

“Get home safe,” is what Gaara says to his brother instead, and Kankuro gives him a heavy pat on the shoulder before he takes his girl’s hand and they’re setting off. 

“Sorry about him. He goes out on the weekends,” says Gaara, and Sakura waves him off. 

“Glad to see he’s doing well on his day off,” she answers. Her eyes follow Kankuro, watching him disappear down the street. It’s getting late. “We should probably head back too, shouldn’t we?”

Gaara is obviously taking it upon himself to make sure that Sakura gets home safe, even if he’s a little drunk in the process. He’s wobbly when he stands, but he’ll be fine. It’s Sakura who nearly tumbles out of her chair. She fully expects to trip and fall onto the street, but she’s caught by a sudden plume of sand that lifts her back onto her feet. 

“Thank you,” Sakura smiles, the blush more permanent on her cheeks. 

“I can’t send you back to Konoha with a broken nose.” Gaara makes sure Sakura’s steady, and then reaches into his pocket for some more money to set on the table. Sakura protests, but Gaara shakes his head. “Let it be my treat,” he says. What else does he have to do with his Kage salary, anyways?

Gaara isn’t a person for physical touch. It’s not personal, just rare. But when Sakura is tripping over her own feet again, he finds himself reaching his hand out to steady her. It seems crude to hold her with sand again.

“Time for you to go to bed, I think,” he laughs, and Sakura doesn’t think anything of wrapping an arm around his waist to keep herself up. This is purely supportive. 

“I’m sorry,” she giggles, “I don’t mean to impose.”

“You are not imposing,” says Gaara. Perhaps it’s the alcohol. “I would help you home any time you liked.” It’s definitely the alcohol. 

When Sakura looks up at him, Gaara’s eyes are fixated on walking forward. He’s clearly tipsy, walking slow and appreciating the village, green eyes glassy, the circles under them dark as always. And to think he was going to go to bed. 

“You are so kind…” her voice trails off, “So sweet, truly.”

“There is much to make up for.”

The village streets are mostly empty, with the exception of streetlights and moths. The sand is soft under their feet. “I don’t think you need to make up for anything. I think you’re just fine. I think you’re more than fine.”

“I appreciate that coming from you.”

They walk in playful, drunken silence, with Gaara’s arm steadying Sakura’s shoulders, and Sakura marveling at the clear Suna skies. Their village really is very pretty. Apart from the moths and light sand, there seems to be something else in the air. 

“Where did you say I was staying?” Sakura says, squinting to see if she could make out the hotel she’d been in previously. 

Gaara’s voice comes out smooth. “Wherever you’d like.”

His voice is unlike anything she’d ever heard in that moment. “Where are  _ you _ staying?” She asks.

Gaara smiles, shrugs. “Where I always stay. Does that interest you?”

“Well, very much so. I think I’d like to stay there too.”


	2. All Talk

Sakura is normally so kind and level-headed that her being this bold flies out of absolutely nowhere. And Gaara has to freeze for a second, because he’s not used to this. It makes him want to let go of her. “You’ve had a lot to drink,” he says, because he doesn’t want to take advantage. 

“Are you saying that to be kind or are you saying it because you’re not interested?” Sakura hurls blunt remarks like they’re kunai. Honestly, Gaara’s lost for words. 

“I’m saying it because I’m very surprised,” says Gaara. 

“Cha,” says Sakura, rolls her eyes, “I can handle myself. Had a few. No big deal.”

Gaara doesn’t say anything, but they’ve passed the street the hotels are on. They’re heading towards where he lives. The nighttime air is helping them both sober up, slowly but surely. They pause near the door of Gaara’s house- which is more of a sand dome with multiple floors- and he pulls away from Sakura for a moment. 

“Are you sure?” Gaara asks one more time. Sakura’s fingers are laced with his still, and he raises his hand over her head just to be playful, watching her spin. He knows the answer to his question. “Well, okay.”

The door unlocks with sand. That way, Gaara’s the only one who can unlock it, and there’s no better way for the Kazekage to be secure. Sakura watches as Gaara lifts his hand for sand to filter into the lock and click it, and he switches on the lights as they go inside. 

It’s one of the most human parts of Gaara she’s seen yet. There are books on the table, a glass of water half empty near the couch. His gourd stands against the wall. Plants are lined on the window. 

“I didn’t know boys kept flowers on the window,” she coos, to which Gaara responds lightly, “I like them.”

Gaara pauses by the door. He has to take his shoes off, but the charm of living in Suna is needing to shake them out every time you come inside. “There’s probably sand in yours,” he says, “and sometimes, sand spiders.”

Sakura shrieks as she yanks her shoes off. Thankfully, there are no sand spiders, and for once there are two sets of shoes at the door. Not just one. She follows Gaara p after he’s picked up his gourd, up the thin stairs to the second floor, which she assumes to be his bedroom, because the third is the Kazekage’s office. There’s a photo of Karura on the nightstand, as well as Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro together. A smiling Naruto beams in another. 

For a moment, there’s a flurry of sand. It’s Gaara taking his sand shield off, letting it settle in the gourd before he looks over at Sakura. She’s pink in the face, hair slightly windblown, eyes gentle. 

“Your eyes remind me of my mother’s,” says Gaara, “some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen.”

Sakura’s eyes go wide as she looks back at him. He’s so different from what she’s used to. He’s drunk, warm and gentle, smiling lazily with his hair still sticking up. Gaara’s flirting with her- the same Gaara she’d met at the Chunin exams, except now, he was someone entirely new. Someone wonderful. 

She walks closer to him. “You got very tall,” she laughs, when she tilts her head up. 

“I’m the short sibling,” says Gaara, “maybe you got shorter?” His joke is light. Tentatively, he reaches forward to place his hands on her sides, settling on her hips. 

Sakura’s heart jumps into her throat when she feels his hands on her. Of all the things she predicted of her mission to Suna, sleeping with the Kazekage wasn’t it. She’s not complaining. 

In the back of her mind, she wonders if Gaara’s even kissed a girl before. She doesn’t see him as somebody with experience, or somebody who’s even interested in something like this. It confuses her when his hands feel so confident on her hips. 

“What are you thinking about?” Gaara asks. 

Sakura opens her mouth to answer, but she’s interrupted by lips on her neck, soft and slow. “You,” she breathes. It’s not a lie. 

She tips her head back, allowing Gaara to pull her closer. Now that he’s this close, she can smell liquor and something smooth, more than just musk. Overwhelmed, she brings her hand to the back of his head, plain fingernails combing bright red hair, and tips him down to kiss her. 

Gaara has kissed girls before, certainly, but never anybody like Sakura. It doesn’t seem there can be anyone else like this, someone that suddenly overwhelms him the way she does. 

The kiss gets deeper without either of them really trying. Sakura’s arms naturally wind around his neck, while Gaara’s hands rest on her waist, ceremonial politeness keeping him from putting them any further down her skirt. He momentarily wonders if it’s just the sake, but the boy in him just tells him to think about it later. Maybe men are pigs. 

Interrupting his thoughts, Sakura’s hand travels down to his chest, blindly searching for the clasp that will undo his vest.

“Handsome,” she comments, when she has a second just to look at him all unkempt, hair messy, lips red, eyes locked with hers. 

“That’s certainly the sake.” Gaara watches while Sakura sets his vest aside on his bed, and it makes him want to follow. He takes a lazy seat, finally reveling in the feeling of being home and relaxed. Work is done for today. This is for him. 

Sakura smiles and invites herself onto his lap, an arm slinging around him. “Don’t get offended,” Sakura laughs after a second, “I just have a question…”

“Ask me.” Gaara lifts his hand to brush some hair behind her ear. 

“I… seriously, don’t get offended,” she says, and Gaara cuts her off with a laugh so drunk and rich she wishes she could replay it. He knows exactly what she’s going to ask. 

“Am I a virgin?” He beats her to it, eyes crinkled humorously. 

Sakura turns red, mostly out of embarrassment. It’s safe to say she’s mortified. “How did you--”

“Did you just think the Kazekage can’t pull?” Gaara teases. “After all that talk about me being handsome?”

“Cha- shut up,” Sakura splutters, gives Gaara a steady shove. Her chakra’s strong as always, though, and with the alcohol in her blood, her control isn’t as good as it normally is. It sends Gaara back so he’s laying down, and he doesn’t remember the last time he’s laughed this hard. 

“The girls I pull don’t use ninjutsu in the bedroom!” Ironically, this is the safest he’s ever felt with someone. 

Even though she’s embarrassed, Sakura is mesmerized at seeing Gaara so unguarded. It’s intimate, makes her feel almost possessive, like she’s the only one seeing him this way. It’s a lot for a one night stand. Is that what this is? “Well, maybe if you weren’t so serious all the time, I’d believe you actually had time for girls!”

“Is this not fun enough for you?” He asks, as he rests his hands behind his head, smiling up at her. He doesn’t know what kind of confidence has gotten into him tonight. “Come join me.” Gaara reaches one hand out to her.

“All that talk about pulling girls. Cha. I’ll show you who’s pulling…” Sakura mutters, but it’s all lighthearted, has a smile on her face. “If I remember, I was the one asking you for drinks in the first place.”

“I am very happy that you did.”

Without necessity for further conversation, Sakura takes it upon herself to climb on top of him. She feels in control here, like he’s not constantly trying to win her over. In fact, she can see him appreciating her. There’s no power struggle. So, of her own accord, she pulls her dress over her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to leave it at a baby bit of a cliffhanger ;)


	3. Skill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually can't believe people are reading this at all. Thank you SO MUCH - your comments and kudos make my day. Anyways, as an apology for making you wait for the cliffhanger, this one's a little longer.

It’s no secret that Sakura’s in shape. She’s a highly skilled kunoichi, not to mention she was trained by Tsunade. “You are beautiful,” Gaara says simply, as his hands move up her sides, “truly.”

Sakura seals the compliment with a kiss, but it’s short-lived, as it makes her recall that she wants his shirt off. Gaara watches while she unbuttons his maroon shirt, helps her with the lower ones, and sits up slightly so that he can pull it off.

Sakura doesn’t know what she was expecting to see, but Gaara spends a lot of time covered up when he’s dressed formally. Her fingers skim over lean muscle, pale skin that coats strong arms. Freckles litter his forearms. Is that from Suna’s sun? When does he wear a cute little t-shirt? Sakura thinks they’re charming. 

Gaara’s hands are slim and his fingers are long, gentle across her hips when she leans down and he kisses her again. Their chests press together, skin on skin, and Sakura is thankful he can’t see the way she’s blushing. 

Sakura’s confidence diminishes Gaara’s hesitation. His mind is always swirling with a constant dialogue of what’s okay and what’s not- truthfully, he’s worried he’ll mess up. But this is like nothing he’s done before. It’s so much safer. So he feigns something like confidence when he reaches behind Sakura to undo her bra. 

For someone as advanced as the Kazekage, it takes longer than Sakura would’ve thought. She doesn’t say anything, though, leaves it to a giggle while she slips it off, lets it land on the side of the bed with the rest of their clothes. Sakura’s dress lies on the ground. Normally Gaara would care about the mess, but he’s distracted because Sakura’s lips are on his neck. Is this what she meant about relaxing?

His fingers curl themselves in her short hair, messy from the windy weather outside. They catch in her shinobi headband, and he takes the initiative of gently slipping it off. She certainly doesn’t need it right now. 

“I think your hair is lovely short,” he says, for lack of anything more poetic, but he doesn’t realize how simple words can make Sakura’s heart swell the way it does. Leave it to Gaara for an awkward foreplay compliment- but she thinks it’s cute. 

In the moment his words lack direction, but his actions speak for him. He cups the side of her cheek, tilting her chin up. He gives her a side smile- not quite a smirk, but not too innocent either- and brushes her shoulder to push her back. With another swift motion, Gaara swings his leg over hers and they switch. 

He’s on top of her now, something like an exhilarated smile on his face even if it’s small. He never really has big emotions, Sakura has noticed. Now his hands are at either side of her shoulders while she lays flush on her back, something beautiful entirely. She’s gazing up at him, tipsy green eyes meeting sleepy ones, taking in all these aspects of his face she’d never noticed before. She can see the thin lines of the tattoo on his forehead, the smooth bridge of his nose, the paleness of his skin that never seems to be affected by the Suna rays. Gaara looks much softer up close. 

There’s a touch of lust that flickers in Gaara’s eyes as he hovers over her. Slowly, he brings himself down to kiss her neck, though he’s more focused on moving down, lips ghosting over her collarbone. Anticipation burns through Sakura more than anything. She wants to feel him everywhere at once.

Gaara’s lips wrap around one of her nipples, sucking carefully, glancing up at Sakura every few seconds. He likes watching her enjoy herself. Part of him wants to keep watching Sakura on top like she had been before. She puts on a show naturally, radiating with this air of sensuality he doesn’t think he could ever possess. Conversely, being a part of this show makes his blood run warmer than he thought it could.

Kisses trail down from Sakura’s breasts to her stomach to the sides of her hips; Gaara pauses and his hands linger by the waistband of her underwear. “Is this okay?”

“You are too polite,” breathes Sakura, though she has a breathless smile on her face. She slips off her panties, “Yes.”

“Just in case you changed your mind,” Gaara says. Maybe it’s a hint of him not wanting Sakura to feel obligated to be nice to him. Sometimes it’s still a shock that people enjoy his company, let alone someone being sexually attracted to him. Is he just that humble?

He’s already down at the edge of the bed.

“Keep going,” Sakura says playfully, letting her legs spread. She has a feeling she knows where this is going. To say she’s curious about the outcome is an understatement. 

“Don’t all good things take time?” Gaara quips, and he settles between her legs, smoothing over one of her thighs. He tilts his head at her and smiles boyishly. She realizes he’s giving her a  _ look _ . The audacity. She didn’t know Gaara knew how to do anything but brood. 

“Had a couple shots and you’re all talk,” she hums, fingers settling in his hair as she brings his head up closer to her. 

Gaara has a few comebacks, but figures his tongue on Sakura’s clit is the best one of them all. Eyes closed, his hands find themselves on either of her thighs. He wants to make her feel good above all else, he thinks, as he starts to lick lightly over her. 

Sakura’s hand tightens in his red hair, a satisfied sigh leaving her body. Gaara can feel her fingernails grazing over his scalp just so. It’s encouraging. His one hand lazily reaches up to rub over her thigh, eventually settling on the base of her stomach while he focuses so intently on making Sakura’s legs shake. 

Sakura can’t decide whether to keep her eyes open or closed. She wants to watch Gaara look absolutely sinful, this shy, polite, politically correct man suddenly turned into someone that makes her back arch. His touch is so relaxing that she sinks into the sheets that already smell like him, letting one arm rest over her head, gripping at one of the pillows. With each flick of his tongue her breath catches, and he coaxes these quiet, breathless sounds from her chest.

When he slips a finger inside of her, she gasps, her hand grasping at the covers next to her- something. “Yes,” is all that she can muster, when one finger turns to two, slender and skilled as they pump in and out of her. 

Gaara makes it look easy, the way he looks this cool when he comes up for a second. His eyes are lazy with lust, now concentrated on Sakura, the dip of her hips, the fullness of her thighs, the smoothness of her skin. The way she tastes. Sakura’s toes curl while his fingers curl to hit that sweet spot inside of her, and it makes him want to smirk that she doesn’t care if anyone hears now.

While keeping up a steady rhythm with his fingers, Gaara returns to working away at Sakura with his tongue. Tenderly, he sucks on her clit, letting go only to keep up his tongue’s consistent pattern. 

“I’m-- oh,  _ fuck. _ ” If he weren’t so focused, Gaara would tease her about her language. Instead, he flashes his eyes to meet hers, as if he’s daring her to do anything but come on his fingers. 

“I’m gonna--” Sakura’s hand suddenly gets so tight in his hair that it actually starts to hurt a little, but Gaara’s attention is so fixed on how beautifully she comes undone that it doesn’t matter. Her back arches up, mouth dropped open in bliss as she comes. All Gaara can do is watch. He could for hours.

As he pulls his wet fingers out of Sakura, he’s truly not focused on himself or the tightness of his boxers that’s been there for some time. He wants to drink every ounce of her in. 

There are unspeakable things Gaara wants to do to Sakura, but he also doesn’t want to impose. Always cordial, he is. He starts to sit up, because admittedly, that hadn’t been the most comfortable position for him. 

Sakura is catching her breath, but isn’t so out of commission that she’s finished. All she wants to do is have him ruin her, and when he’s sitting up, she gets up to sit on her knees, leaning into him to kiss him deeply. Their lips slot together wetly with Sakura tasting herself on him, and Gaara’s lean arms wrapping around her, one steadying her waist, the other around her upper back, his hand cradling her head. 

In all this, Sakura can’t even believe the audacity he has to keep his pants on. Men in politics are always too well mannered. 

“Oh, get those off already.” His zipper is down in a matter of seconds, and Sakura is already impressed from the bulge she can see in his boxers. 

There’s a minute of scrambling because his legs are too long to comfortably get them off, and there’s a lovely picturesque moment of Sakura tugging his pants off for him. His legs are skinnier than what she’d picture, with knobby ankles and a scar on the back of his calf, presumably from some sort of battle. Luckily, his boxers come off without as much of an issue, and he finds himself pinning her to the bed again, their faces inches away from each other. 

Sakura is already having one leg wrap around him, her arm looped around his neck. “I want you,” she says, her breath hot against his skin. This is the first time she’s seen his face have some damn color, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“I would give you anything you want,” Gaara whispers, sharing a grin with her as their foreheads press together. He lines his hips with hers and pushes into her slowly.

Sakura’s eyes roll back with the sensation of being full, her mouth round with an,  _ “Oh.” _ She’d been optimistic, but she hadn’t expected him to feel this good inside of her. He’s not small and not large enough that she’s uncomfortable. He fills her up just the way she wants. It’s when she looks up at Gaara’s face that she confirms she absolutely wants him to ruin her. 

Gaara’s mouth is hanging open halfway, a groan escaping his lips. His hair is already sticking up in every angle from Sakura, a few pieces falling into his eyes. “Sakura,” he breathes, almost in disbelief. Something about this girl makes him fall into pieces, sometimes. 

“Come on,” Sakura tips his head back with handful of his hair, “fuck me.” 

Hearing her say that is enough to make Gaara choke, but he certainly can’t say no. His hands are strong on either side of her, and he starts to move his hips. It’s lewd of him, but he wonders how she likes it. 

The deeper he goes, the more of a mess Sakura is under him, her legs all the way around his waist, and her arms tugging him close to her all while he starts to fuck her.

“Gaara,” Sakura cries out, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. The sensation is especially foreign to him, and he revels in finally feeling something, watching someone under him pine for his every move. 

With a grunt and a quick hand, Gaara takes both of her wrists, suddenly pinning them above her head as he picks up his speed, the sound of skin slapping skin filling the room. 

“Sakura, you…” she’s so disgustingly beautiful, her cheeks pink, her hair fanned out under her, her breasts bouncing with each stroke, “you feel so good.  _ Fuck. _ ”

“Please, oh my god…” She’s incoherent by now, but Sakura realizes she’s made the Kazekage swear in front of a lady and she always wants him like this in front of her. She wants the Gaara nobody else gets to see. She wants him all to herself. “Make me come again,” she urges. 

Gaara moans at that, low and breathy, his fingers tightening around Sakura’s thin wrists. She’s filthy, is what she is. And she’s got him wrapped around her finger. He pushes one of her legs up to hook over his shoulder so he can change his angle slightly, going deeper than before, filling her up just the way she wants. 

Under him, Sakura can’t keep it quiet. She writhes under him with interjections of “fuck” and “please” and “ _ Gaara,” _ and he doesn’t think he can hold off much longer, especially when he feels her tightening around him for the second time as she comes. He lets go of her arms, because he knows what’s next. 

Her walls are pulsing around him. Gaara pulls out with a sharp inhale- safety first- and his cheeks and chest are flushed red, eyes drooping with pleasure as he comes, covering the bottom half of Sakura’s stomach with a groan.

They’re both silent for a beat, catching their breath and wiping their own sweaty bangs out of their eyes. Still panting, Gaara reaches for his pants, that he’ll wash tomorrow, to wipe Sakura off. Exhausted, he lets himself fall forward onto the bed, lying on his chest with an arm strewn across Sakura’s middle. He wonders if this is too much, but he doesn’t want to let her go. Besides, Sakura’s so bold that he figures she’ll let him know if he’s being annoying or clingy.

“You’re spending the night here, yes?” He asks. His hand is nervous where it lays on the side of her arm. 

Sakura laughs. He’s tired and cute, all limp and lazy, his arm like lead over her. She lifts it so she can move closer to him, smiling when he turns towards her so hopefully. She settles his arm back around her, “Believe it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta confess that writing it made my mouth a little dry. Had to stop and get some water. All I can say is that I wish I were Sakura. I think we all need a little bit of sleepy sex god Gaara in our lives. Let me know how he makes ya feel.


	4. Morning Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been bringing me a lot of creativity and purpose lately. Thank you for reading.

4

Gaara had had a long day to begin with, so adding this into the mix is exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. It’s well past one in the morning by now. The clock at his bedside reads 1:22, as he peers over Sakura’s shoulder to look at it. 

“I’m usually in bed by ten,” Sakura giggles, though her voice is nearly an octave lower, heavy with sleep and a tiny drunken drawl.

Gaara turns his head to face her. Sakura’s already on her side, turned in towards him. “Would you like something to sleep in?” He asks. He doesn’t really think of the fact that she packed a bag with her. Maybe that’s a stupid question. 

“Your Kage robe, please,” she says, and Gaara laughs languidly. 

“I can offer a t-shirt,” he says. “I could also look and see if I have some of Temari’s things, but she doesn’t stay over as much anymore..” He’s more talking to himself, absorbed in this task he’s brought upon himself. Humming in thought, he pushes himself up to stand. 

The second his feet hit the ground, he leans on his nightstand for support. “Oh,” is what he says, some surprise in his voice. Maybe the alcohol had taken some time. Carefully making his way to his dresser, he gets himself a pair of boxers, slips them on clumsily, and begins rummaging through his clothes to find something for Sakura. He’s a talented drunk, the kind that you can’t sense. At least up until now.

“I really don’t care. It can be anything.”

Most of Gaara’s things are more or less the same, and rather plain. He does find a black t-shirt. He holds it out as if examining it, and then holds it out to Sakura. “Yes or no? Other options are available.”

Sakura is more concerned with the pure image of Gaara standing in his underwear holding out a shirt to her. Now she can actually see all of him. His thighs have the same freckles his arms do. He’s thin, all muscle, with prominent collar bones and strong shoulders. He isn’t holding them up so tight now. In fact, he’s sort of slouchy.

“That one is fine,” she beams, “thank you.”

When he turns to close the drawer, she catches sight of the same scar on his leg she’d been curious about before. “How did you get that? On your leg?”

“Huh?” Gaara follows Sakura’s gaze to the jagged scar on the back of his calf. He laughs. “Oh, that. Kankuro and I fought a while back. Crow is not kind.”

“You got that from sparring?”

“No,” Gaara says smoothly, “we were  _ fighting _ .” There’s a difference, and it hangs heavy for a moment. He notices. “We’re brothers,” he explains, “and we don’t get along sometimes.”

“Oh, I get it.” Sakura doesn’t, but she has to remember that all three of them come from one big mess.

“We are a confusing family,” he admits, and hands her the shirt. She pulls it over her head. It’s baggy enough that it reaches over her thighs, and Gaara stops to admire it. “You look better in it than I do.”

“You’re full of it,” says Sakura. She stretches out on his bed, drunkenly makes herself at home by wrapping herself in his blankets. They’re so clean it seems like he never lays here. Probably because he doesn’t.

Shukaku no longer torments Gaara every time he sleeps, but he’s still getting used to being able to sleep a full night. A lot of the time, anxiety or nightmares will keep him up. He usually settles for a few hours. Nevertheless, it’s much better than before. Tonight, though, he feels like he could sleep for a week. 

“Come sleep,” says Sakura, reaching her hand out for him. Gaara realizes she’s the clingy drunk between the two of them. He doesn’t mind. To be desired right now is something he always has trouble with. He hangs onto it too much.

“I am not sure you want to sleep with me,” he jokes lightly, joining her under the covers after he switches off the light. The mattress feels good on his back; he’s been on his feet all day. His body moves before his mind does, instinctively winding an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. His other arm remains over his head. 

“Do you snore?” Sakura closes her eyes, exhaling deeply when Gaara’s arm wraps around her. She settles under his arm, head on his chest. She wants all of his attention. 

“No,” Gaara smiles, “I just don’t sleep well.”

In retrospect, Sakura actually knows this. She’s just self absorbed enough that she’d forgotten. “You should be sleeping well now, no? Since Shukaku is gone?”

“It’s hard to get used to.”

“When I can’t sleep, I always end up thinking a lot. Sometimes I end up daydreaming.”

“Much better than dreams at night.” Gaara has simply never had a pleasant one.

“I love nighttime dreams.”

“Well, I hope you have a good one,” says Gaara, his hand absentmindedly in Sakura’s hair. It’s soft. 

Sakura closes her eyes. “Me too.”

They lay like this for a while, and Gaara listens to Sakura’s breaths slowing down, feels her relax and snuggle closer to him. He is just staring at the ceiling, his eyes drooping while they search for sleep. Somehow, Gaara’s rewarded with it. He drifts off unknowingly. 

~

Gaara wakes up to the sun pouring through the window. He’d forgotten to close the blinds last night, and the village is practically glowing. It’s early. Maybe six or seven- he’s never slept in a day in his life. He shifts and feels legs between his. He and Sakura are all tangled up, and it’s with a welcoming pound of a headache that the entire night comes back to him. Their clothes are strewn all over the floor, a stray pillow has fallen off the bed. More importantly, Sakura is fast asleep next to him, mouth slightly open, hair falling into her face. Gaara thinks she’s something out of a fairy tale, but he feels like there’s no way the night went the way it did. Sakura seems too good for him, and he doesn’t want her to be embarrassed when she wakes up. 

He decides to peel himself away from her. Gaara moves slowly, so as to not wake her up, and gets out of bed. A dull pain thrums at the back of his head, and he rubs his eyes tiredly. Four hours isn’t ideal, but it’s the most he’s gotten in a very long time. He’s silent as he moves about the room- he’s trained in stealth, so it’s not hard- and trails downstairs. One of the best things about living by himself in the Kazekage’s quarters instead of with his siblings is that he can do a proper walk of shame in his own kitchen if he wants to. 

He starts with a glass of water. He knows he has to have some painkillers somewhere, and he finds a small container of them in his cabinet. Swallowing one, he takes another to bring back upstairs, and pours a second glass of water. 

When he pads back into his bedroom, Sakura has stirred. Her hair is tied up, and she’s rubbing her eyes, sitting up in a mound of his covers. Gaara has never seen her hair up, and his eyes are fixed on how she looks sitting under the Sunagakure sunrise, in  _ his bed.  _

For lack of anything better, Gaara formally opens with, “Good morning.”  
Sakura peeks through her hands to look at him. A lot from the beginning of the night is fuzzy, but as soon as her eyes lock with his, she remembers how hungrily they stared at her last night. Something stirs in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes linger over the water glass in his hand, the way his long fingers are wrapped around it. She remembers them much differently. Her mouth has gone dry. “Good morning,” she finally answers, laughing awkwardly. The shirt she’s wearing is not her own. 

Wordlessly, Gaara holds out the painkiller and the water. Sakura still doesn’t know what to say when she takes it, staring at nothing in particular as she swallows it down. She can’t possibly look at him right now, not when his shirt’s off, when his hair is so messy, when the sun is shining on his skin. It’s going to make her want something that there’s no way she could possibly have. What was she thinking? The Kazekage? Who does she think she is? It’s not like what they’re doing is wrong, per se. But it’s awkward, and it’s different since Gaara is such an elite political figure. Everything he does has the possibility of being scrutinized. Now Sakura is one of those things. 

“I’m sorry I woke you. It’s still early,” Gaara breaks the silence, and sits on the bed. There’s at least a foot between them. He’s still tired, and wants nothing more than to curl up in a mountain of blankets, but he’ll have to be into work at some point today. 

“It’s okay,” Sakura smiles warmly. She turns towards the window, legs crossed, hands holding the half empty glass of water. “I’ve never seen a sunrise like this.”

“They’re one of the best parts of the Sand. Like the village is waking up.” 

“Did you sleep well?” Sakura asks, tearing her attention away from the sunrise to turn to him. She aches to keep talking with him.

Out of sheer shyness, Gaara’s eyes are still on the orange sky. “I have never slept well. I don’t feel as much tension in my body today, though,” he hums. He wonders how he could possibly tell her that she’s the reason his shoulders hang much looser than before. 

“You carry so much stress in your shoulders,” Sakura dotes. This is just the medical ninja in her. “I can even see it in the way you stand.”

“You said that yesterday,” Gaara laughs softly.

“It’s true. All along here,” Sakura practically squawks, pointing at Gaara’s back and either side of his shoulders. This is what Naruto calls her Know It All Voice. 

“Where?” Gaara turns to look at her, and she ends up being closer than he’d thought. Almost right behind him, actually, and their eyes lock. Almost two seconds later, the eye contact breaks. 

“Here,” murmurs Sakura, presses her fingers against Gaara’s back, to the right of his spine, but not quite his shoulder blade. Mostly the muscle. She knows what she’s doing now. 

Gaara’s words are caught in his throat. He doesn’t know what to say, and he always has words. For everything. He’s too focused on the way Sakura’s smooth fingers burn into his warm skin, just barely ghosting back over it. As he turns to look back at her, Sakura’s second hand is already meeting his back, and she starts to rub his shoulders gently, pressure in all the right places. 

Gaara closes his eyes, head tipped back slightly so he can feel the sun on his face, hands both behind him to keep him upright. He doesn’t think he’s ever been touched with so much care. 

“You ought to relax sometime,” Sakura says as she kneads his shoulders. “Stress shortens your life, y’know..”

Gaara opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off with a grimace. Sakura’s hands are starting to knead out a knot in his back, now. “Stay still,” she admonishes, and Gaara does. 

He needs to be asking her about last night. He needs to be clarifying what happened between them, and they need to have a discussion. But instead, he’s letting her rub his back, leaning into her touch like it’s something he needs, and wondering if she’ll touch him anywhere else. 

He’s craving her, but he won’t let her know. 

Similarly, agonizingly, Sakura’s hands roam over his body without crossing a risky line she would’ve last night. It hangs between them, heavy and clouded. 

“You know we have to keep this between us, right?” She asks softly, rubbing gentle circles into his neck. They both have too high of profiles to risk all the gossip. Besides, then it makes the medical corp look like a joke. 

“What is ‘this’?” Gaara asks, his eyes still closed. He’s scared to stare rejection in the face. 

“This…” Sakura’s hands pause. “This is our little secret,” she decides. She has no better words. She doesn’t know what it is, but she doesn’t want it to stop. She bites her lip. “You don’t need to worry about anything right now.”

“Is that so?”

Sakura’s hands shift to his sides. She presses herself to his back, her chin hooking over his shoulder. “Yes,” she answers. “I want you to focus on me.”

This time, when Gaara turns, their eyes lock indefinitely. Hesitantly, he leans forward to kiss her. 

Seamlessly, Sakura’s lips collide with his. She brings herself to his side, though within seconds ends up in front of him. On her knees, she leans over him. Gaara just lets her. 

When their lips touch, Sakura’s desire for Gaara is so overwhelming it’s all she can think about. Last night comes flooding back to her, coating her memories in sharp breaths and sensations of pleasure racing through her veins. Gaara’s skin is warm from the sun, and she places a hand on his chest to steady herself as she swings a leg over his lap, effectively straddling him. 

Gaara’s mouth drops open halfway, unable to focus when he feels her hips on top of his and the heat between her legs. His t-shirt rides up on her thighs as she starts to rock her hips back and forth just so. 

Her hands cradle his face in a kiss, though one later falls to smooth over his chest. Suddenly, he understands why she doesn’t want anyone to know about this. He doesn’t want anybody thinking about her like this besides him.

He can’t help but sigh into her mouth, feeling the dull pressure of her against the bulge in his boxers, squeezing her thigh. 

Her front teeth catch at his bottom lip, dragging it down ever so slightly, while she backs up to have her hand slip between them and past the waistband of his boxers.

A low moan passes through Gaara’s lips, and his jaw seems permanently locked in an ‘o’ shape. Sakura’s hand wraps around him, her hand soft and warm. 

“Lord Kazekage?”

They both freeze when there’s a knock outside the door, polite and ceremonial. Whoever it is knocks again. 

“Hello? Lord Kazekage? It’s 7:45, your meeting for the medical corp is at eight…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaara had better make sure that door is locked.


	5. Sakura Pulls Herself Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh the fun I had writing this one

5

Gaara suddenly feels like someone had dumped a pitcher of water over his head. He loves his advisors, he does. They keep him in line, they remind him of little things, and they always make sure he’s on track with his work. But right now? He can’t believe they can do things like walk right into his house. He’s so thankful his door is locked.

“I’m aware,” he calls out, internally punching himself when his voice is loud but raspy with sleep. It’s evident he just got up. “I will be a few minutes late. They’re welcome to start without me.”

“Is everything alright, Lord Kazekage?”

Sakura can’t help it. Her hand is still in his boxers, and she laughs silently, pressing her forehead against his momentarily. 

“Everything is fine,” Gaara answers. This is the reddest Sakura has ever seen his face turn.

“Okay. Please be sure to let me know if there is anything I can get for you.”

“Thank you.” 

Sakura collapses against him in a fit of laughter. Gaara is stunned, eyes still wide, unable to process what just happened. 

“The funny thing,” Sakura laughs, “is that I was supposed to be at that meeting too.” The whole reason that she’s here is business. It seems they’d completely disregarded that. 

“Fucking hell,” Gaara mumbles in disbelief, rubbing two hands over his face to try and wake himself up, or make himself look remotely presentable. 

“I thought you didn't swear?”

“I don’t.”

“Right.” Sakura returns to her spot in front of him, her hands on his sides again. “Well…”

“What?”

“We’re already going to be late…” her voice trails off suggestively.

“You can’t possibly be suggesting--”

“What? You’re the Kazekage. You can be as late as you want,” she adds, letting her hands run over his body, down his chest and narrowly avoiding his hips. 

“But--”

“What? You want to go to the meeting like this?” Sakura points to the hard-on Gaara’s sporting in his underwear.

Gaara’s mouth is dry. “I suppose that would be unprofessional.”

“Wouldn’t it?”

Gaara rolls his eyes. He can’t tell if he’s embarrassed or not. Within about five seconds, he comes to the conclusion that he is. 

Sakura kisses the blush on his cheeks. “Just let me take care of you.”

He doesn’t know how she manages to make something so lewd sound so pretty. However, he does admit that he’s a control freak, so he decides to sit back, watching as Sakura pulls his boxers down and his length springs up. She’s clearly proud of herself. 

“What are you so stressed for, anyway? It’s just a meeting,” she says, as she kisses at the side of his neck, her hand slowly working between them, pumping slowly. 

Gaara’s eyelids flutter as he searches for a response. “I still have to be there.”

“I’m doing most of the talking anyway. You can just sit there and look handsome.”

He can’t help mustering a breathy smile, bringing one of his hands up to stroke the side of her face. His eyes are heavy with something other than sleep, now, as he looks at her. “I think you’ll distract me.”

“How unprofessional,” Sakura quips. She starts stroking him steadily.

Anything Gaara wanted to say now is gone. She overwhelms him easily, and instead of conversation, the air is filled with pleasured sighs and the sound of sweet kisses. 

His breaths are starting to get more shallow. Abruptly, Sakura pulls away from him, but it’s only for a short minute. Now, she’s shifting to lay on her stomach so that she can put her mouth on him. 

It’s sinful, the way she looks. Gaara’s eyes are wide as he watches her, his t-shirt bunched up on the small of her back, the curve of her thighs swelling into her ass. Her lips are pink and wet, wrapped around the tip of his cock while her innocent eyes stare right into his. 

Sakura has noticed that Gaara’s not very vocal. Instead, she can read everything on his face, something no one can ever do. He’s relaxed, mouth agape, eyes closed, soft breaths leaving his parted lips. 

His hand finds its way to her hair, a ponytail that’s been properly messed up by now, and grips it, guiding her head as she moves it up and down. 

Sakura isn’t expecting to hear much of anything from him until she takes him deeper, cheeks hollow, breathing skillfully through her nose. She can feel him hit the back of her throat, and his hand instinctively tightens in her hair as he groans in pleasure.

She’d been curious to see if he would take the same initiative as he did last night and hold her down, but he doesn’t. He seems much more languid this morning, and she finds herself attracted to how gentle he can be, as well. 

“Sakura.” 

She’s torn from her thoughts when he speaks, his voice strained. “I’m gonna--..”

She doesn’t bother to pull off. She swallows when he comes down her throat, slowly pulling off and wiping the side of her mouth. In front of her, Gaara has practically deflated, loose and out of breath, enjoying the feeling of the orgasm still coursing through his body. 

“Now,” she says, as she tucks him back into his boxers, “we can get ready for that meeting.”

Gaara lays down on his back, letting himself come down to earth. 

Sakura snorts. Men are all the same- as soon as you make them come, they’re useless, out of commission for at least a few minutes. 

Her bag is on the floor on the side of Gaara’s room; thankfully she’d left it here last night. After stopping in his bathroom to freshen up, she looks at herself in the mirror over his dresser, takes the tie out of her hair and lets it fall over her shoulders as she brushes through it. 

There is a sound of shifting weight coming from the bed while Sakura pulls Gaara’s shirt over her head. Undoubtedly, he’s turned to watch, and she can feel his eyes on her while she gets dressed. She doesn’t mind him watching, though. In fact, she’d been hoping he would. 

In the midst of her getting ready and Gaara finally getting up to go to the bathroom, he doesn’t notice her tucking his t-shirt into her bag along with all her other things. Later, Sakura will try to convince herself that it was habitual, or that she put it in unknowingly. Truthfully, it all boils down to the selfish fact that  _ she wanted it.  _

She shelves that thought in the back of her mind, but something wanders back to the forefront when she sees Gaara with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and some toothpaste on his chin, sleepily meandering about his bedroom in search of something. It’s already 8:05. 

Humming triumphantly, Gaara picks up the hair comb he’d been searching for and disappears back into the bathroom. 

Sakura’s attention is brought back to her reflection in the mirror. The only thing she needs to pay attention to right now is looking presentable. She’s about to speak to a lot of important people about a committee that is extremely beneficial to their villages. It’s a big job. 

Her moment of anxiety is interrupted by Gaara popping up behind her in the mirror. “Excuse me, I just need to get by here,” he says gently, because she’s standing in front of some drawers, and he needs a shirt. He’s already wearing a pair of handsome dress pants. 

He’s washed up, even woken up more, and he smells fresh when he walks by her, putting on a long sleeve shirt. 

“I never understand why you all wear long sleeve shirts. It’s so hot.”

“When you wake up with a nice Sunagakure sunburn,” says Gaara, “then you will.”

He grabs his Kage robe off of the edge of the door and puts it on. “Are you ready to go?” It’s 8:12. 

“Almost,” Sakura says as she puts her headband on. She pauses. “We should probably… be spaced out when we leave, no?”

She’s thinking about how suggestive it would look if they walked in late together.

“You go ahead. I will take the blame for being the latest,” Gaara smiles kindly, nods his head. 

Sakura nods. “I’ll… see you later.” 

All the two of them share is a nod. It feels strange to do anything else now that they’ve slipped back into their identities. 

Once Gaara senses Sakura’s chakra is far away enough- he’s given her about ten minutes- he follows. He doesn’t have any more time to think about her, because he’s nearly twenty five minutes late for an important meeting. The village conference room isn’t too far, in fact, it’s connected via skyway. However, Gaara takes his time. 

Quietly, he slips into the meeting at 8:29. An attendant is nearby to bring him some water, as provided to everyone. 

“Where were you?!” Hisses Temari, as he takes his seat between her and Kankuro. 

“I had to take care of something. Sh,” Gaara says, motioning to whoever is speaking. He takes a sip of his water. 

Next to him, Kankuro is staring at Gaara like some kind of alien. Of course, he does this often, but he’s trying to figure out what in the world had gone down to make Gaara late for a meeting. Above anything else, Gaara’s job as the Kazekage is incredibly important to him. 

“Were you beating off?” Kankuro whispers.

Gaara chokes on his water and coughs so loudly it attracts attention, and Kankuro has to thump him on the back. Gaara raises his hand to one of the attendants that comes rushing over, indicating that he’s fine.

Temari is so embarrassed at the both of them that she could melt into the floor, but at least it takes some of the heat off of her. Nobody has said anything about the haphazardly covered hickey on her neck, and she honestly doesn’t want either of her brothers thinking about the fact that Shikamaru is sound asleep in her bed right now. 

Across the room, Sakura’s eyes are drawn to the chaos at the front of the table, the three siblings silently bickering. 

“...and our ambassador for this project is Haruno Sakura.”

She jolts, having to suddenly pull herself together, and stands to face the committee. “It’s an honor to be here on behalf of the medical corp. Here are the main focuses of this committee…”

~

Of course, Sakura knocks it out of the park. There hadn’t been a doubt that she would. Something that had taken so much time and effort to plan couldn’t have failed, especially with Tsunade’s seal of approval. The meeting goes swimmingly, with a mixture of other Suna political updates that take about another hour and a half. When she was little, Sakura always thought politicians and elders never got bored. However, when she sees Kankuro snoring across the room with his head slumped on his hand, she realizes that even authority figures have a limit. 

Except for maybe Gaara. He’s the epitome of being able to stay still and quiet, laser focused on whoever is speaking at any given time, graciously raising his hand whenever he wants to interject. Sakura understands now why he’s taken so seriously among the other Kage when he’s so young. He really does embody this work. 

When the meeting is over, everyone slowly shuffles out of the room to continue with their day. Sakura makes a beeline for the door. For some reason, she can’t fathom talking to all three siblings at once. What if they know?  _ And so what if they do? _

Temari, in the midst of pounding Kankuro’s head to wake him up, calls out to Sakura. “Hey! Sakura! Wait up.”

Sakura jolts and turns around. “Temari! Hi.” Temari is intimidating, but Sakura’s never been particularly nervous around her like she is now. There’s a lot more going through her mind. And Gaara’s not even looking at her. He’s looking at a pile of paperwork.  _ Why does she want him to look at her? _

“Hey. I just wanted to ask when you planned on leaving,” Temari shrugs. “I… well, Shikamaru is staying another night, or two…” or three. He has the week off, and they don’t have that very often. “And I know you came together, so I didn’t know if you wanted to leave together. That walk is a drag by yourself.”

Sakura deflates like a balloon. Shikamaru. That’s what this is about. “Oh,” she exhales, and then composes herself. “Oh, it really doesn’t matter to me. I know it must be hard for you two. You don’t have to worry about my schedule.” She has the week as well. Tsunade had insisted on it. “I was thinking about heading back tonight, but Shikamaru can absolutely stay.”

Gaara’s hand pauses as he fills out a form. 

“Already? You spent more time getting here than staying,” Kankuro yawns, awake from his nap. “I get it, though. You got a mission or something waiting for you?”

Sakura’s a lot of things. A good liar isn’t one of them. “No, not really…”

“You totally ought to stay a while. I think some of the other jonin are getting together tonight. Temari said she would stop by. Gaara is a buzzkill. He said no. You could come, though,” offers Kankuro. “You can be my date! Make everybody jealous.” The playful tone in his voice proves he’s not seriously flirting, but either way, getting belligerently drunk on Kankuro’s arm isn’t exactly Sakura’s idea of a a getaway.

“I don’t think Sakura would enjoy being your date,” Gaara pipes up nonchalantly, attention fixed on his forms. “You are sloppy.”  _ Is he jealous? _

Kankuro scoffs. “Lighten up. Besides, what are you? I bet you were wasted off three shots last night, you fuckin’ paperclip- what did you guys do last night, anyway?”

Sakura opens her mouth to interrupt the bickering, but Gaara beats her to it. “We had a few drinks, we caught up,” he stamps another document, “and I walked her home.”

Sakura blinks a few times at how good he lies, how the words roll off his tongue, how absolutely  _ cool  _ he is. “Yeah. That was it,” Sakura laughs, “nothing too crazy. Where did you and your... friend end up?”

Gaara smiles to himself. Sakura’s caught on to passing the ball right back to Kankuro. He’s all talk sometimes. 

Kankuro sighs, “She said she was ‘emotionally unavailable.’ What’s a guy gotta do?”

“Maybe get a haircut,” says Temari plainly, and Kankuro looks wounded as he runs a hand through his hair. 

Sakura decides that Gaara was right. They’re strange. All three of them. 

“I do think I’m going to head out, though,” Sakura smiles. “It’s a long walk, and it’s still early, so I’d like to go while it’s light.”

She feels like such a fucking minx watching to see if her words affect Gaara. He sits up so straight, she wonders if he ever has a bad poker face. He acts unphased.  _ Maybe he is. _

Gaara isn’t really sure what he expected to happen once this meeting was over, but it wasn’t leaving without an explanation. And yet, here it is: another chapter of his life that passes him by completely unanswered. Maybe it’s best to start forgetting about it. It clearly doesn’t hold any weight with Sakura. 

Maybe they should just let the drinks remain drinks. 

“Well, alright then. Have a safe trip back. I’ll send Shikamaru in a few days,” Temari smiles, and there’s such a hint of fond in her eyes it makes Sakura smile, too. 

“Thank you. I hope you two enjoy your time together,” Sakura says genuinely. “I’ll see you all another time, won’t I? The chunin exams are coming up. Won’t you be in to watch?”

“Probably,” Temari says. 

“Safe travels, Sakura. Whenever you wanna go on a date, I’m here,” says Kankuro, leaning back in his chair. 

“I’ll see you, Kankuro. Bye, Gaara.”

Gaara’s eyes finally leave his paperwork to meet Sakura’s. “Travel safely. Thank you for the presentation.” They linger on her. 

“It was my pleasure.” Sakura turns the corner, goes through the door, and she’s gone. 

Gaara directs his eyes back to his paperwork. He gets through about maybe three more stamps before he pushes the unfinished stack of paper aside. “I’m finished for today.”

Kankuro raises an eyebrow. “Gaara, there’s an entire--”

“I said I’m finished.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW DO WE FEEL HOW DO WE FEEL
> 
> The STRUGGLE I had trying to figure out what was going to happen... I have a little something up my sleeve now


	6. Kankuro & Gravity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of drabble because I've been drunk & had writer's block all weekend, but I'll probably double update to make up for it.  
> also - the taijutsu scene is probably my favorite I've written in a while 
> 
> This one's for all of you wondering if Gaara's heart is getting shattered or not!

Sakura feels the weight of what she’s just done like it’s gravity hanging onto her shoulders, trying to drag her into the floor. Is her own selfishness worth hurting Gaara? Was Gaara even hurt to begin with? For someone that didn’t even ask her to stay, she’s starting to realize he probably couldn’t have cared one way or another. 

Maybe it’s because in a way he reminds her of Sasuke; someone that’s too cool to let her know what he’s really feeling. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t, and she felt lighter in that morning with Gaara than she had in a full summer with Sasuke. It could be the anxiety and pressure that comes from even being remotely associated with the Kazekage. 

Sakura realizes that she only hurts people so they don’t get a chance to hurt her back. 

Meanwhile, there is no grain of sand that Gaara can’t control. It means that as Sakura crosses the village gates, Gaara knows she’s gone for good. 

~

Gaara asks Kankuro to spar with him that afternoon. Even though both of them are long range fighters, Kankuro’s still much better at taijutsu than Gaara, and all he wants is an opportunity to get some feelings out. Plus, when they spar with taijutsu, Gaara doesn’t use his sand. It makes them feel equal. 

As a man, Gaara’s request is the one thing Kankuro can understand. He doesn’t ask, even if he’s confused. However, he can put two pieces together: Gaara was fine before Sakura came here, and now he’s not. 

They’re outside in the courtyard, panting under the sun. Kankuro’s shirt is wrinkled in the sand to the side of them, along with his hood. His face paint is starting to smear. Gaara’s hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat. 

“Did something happen between you and Sakura?”

It catches Gaara so off guard that Kankuro actually lands a hit on him, sending an elbow into Gaara’s gut that knocks him straight into the sand with a pained grunt. Kankuro looks less than impressed. That should’ve been an easy one for Gaara to block. Instead, Gaara falls back onto the sand, silent and panting. The pain of the hit had knocked the wind out of him, but he also doesn’t feel much like getting up. 

“Why would you ask that?” Gaara finally asks. 

“There’s only two things that make men act out,” Kankuro says, extending a hand to help his brother up. “Pussy and politics.”

“You’re crude.”

“And you’re acting weird.” Kankuro tugs Gaara up from the ground. 

“Do you think I’m capable of being in a relationship?”

“What?” Kankuro isn’t sure how they got here. “What do you mean?”

“A romantic relationship.”

“I-” Kankuro wipes the sweat out of his eyes, and laughs pleasantly.

“Why are you laughing?!”

“Just because… I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for you to come around to this sort of thing. And now it’s like… My baby brother is asking me for advice on girls. Cause he bagged Haruno Sakura last night, huh? That’s what this whole thing is?” Kankuro says cheekily. “I’m putting it together. You see this mind? Nara level.”

“It’s not like that,” Gaara says quickly, eyes wide. “It’s not like that at all. I didn’t ‘bag’ anyone. Enough, Kankuro--”

“She left for Konoha. That’s why you’re damn near channeling Shukaku. Huh,” Kankuro hums out loud, arms crossed over his chest. He pauses to think and then looks at Gaara. “Well…”

“What?”

“Was it good?”

“Was what good-- why would I tell you?!”

“So you  _ did _ fuck!” Kankuro grins triumphantly. He taps his head. “Jonin level interrogation. Kankuro of the Sand. Thank you, come again--”

Before Kankuro gets another chance to gloat, Gaara’s up and coming at him. Kankuro is all for it, laughing while he ducks and blocks each one of Gaara’s blows. “You’re mad because I’m right! You’re mad because I’m right!” 

Egging anybody on is enough to get a reaction, but Kankuro has learned that if he pushes Gaara far enough, he’ll snap eventually. This is how he finds himself with an arm pinned behind him and a knee in his back, sending him to the ground. 

“For your information,” Gaara says, as he takes off his own shirt and wipes his forehead with it, “it was great.”

~

Sakura makes it back to Konoha rather quickly, in about a day. Something about the sound of her feet hitting the ground makes it impossible for her to stop, as Suna grows farther and farther behind her. When she’s crossing through the village gates, she’s desperate for sleep, as it’s the middle of the night. Izumo and Kotetsu are as well, because one of them is asleep at the village watch, and the other waves at her wearily. 

“How was your trip?” Calls out Izumo. 

“It was great,” chirps Sakura, and waves back as she heads for her house. She doesn’t have the energy for Izumo to ask her anything else. 

When she gets home, it seems empty. Her bedroom is just how she left it- after all, she’d only been gone for a few days. For a moment, she catches herself picturing Gaara’s room, how the moonlight had poured in through that big window, and how unlike tonight, she’d fallen asleep wrapped up in him. 

But who is she to assume that a one night stand is anything more?

Changing her clothes reminds her of hands on her waist, of Gaara slumping around half asleep to get ready for his meeting. But as she unpacks the rest of her backpack to put away, something black falls out onto the carpet. The t-shirt that she hadn’t remembered stealing so selfishly, but thought that maybe Gaara wouldn’t miss it.

Sakura’s arms move by themselves as she pulls it over her head to sleep in, and she knows she’s made a mistake by leaving so soon. Whatever it was that she left behind, it deserved a conversation. 

But she’s still too damn immature. 

The next morning, there’s a scratch on Sakura’s door. At first when she opens it no one is there, but upon further examination, she’d been looking in the wrong place. Down on the ground is Pakkun, who appears to have a message. 

“Lady Tsunade would like to see you,” he says. Sakura blinks sleepily and nods, having just woken up. 

“Thank you, Pakkun, tell her I’ll be over as soon as I get dressed,” she yawns. 

Pakkun sniffs the air. “How peculiar.”

“What is it?”

“You smell like the Kazekage.”

“That’s impossible,” Sakura rolls her eyes, “I’ll see you later, Pakkun.”

After she shuts the door, she runs a hand over the lightweight black shirt she’s wearing.

~

“The Sand was in awe of you,” says Tsunade, as Sakura stands before her. “The project is going amazing. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“I have another mission for you,” begins Tsunade. “I’d like to start training medical teams from the Sand. We’re going to need them for the Chunin exams. You know how it gets when the kids get all beat up… besides, they’re only three weeks away.”

“Will they be coming here?”

“No,” replies Tsunade. “I was going to send Shizune as the mission leader, but the Sand requested you specifically. The Kazekage spoke very highly of you in the committee report.”

“He did?” Sakura’s eyes widen.

“Of course he did. You were trained by me. You’re one of the best,” Tsunade snorts. 

Sakura exhales, “Of course.”

~

It had been Kankuro’s idea to request Sakura. Gaara had just filled out the report and passed it on for Kankuro to sign. Now, since Shikamaru was here, Kankuro and Temari had been going over chunin exam documents all week, and only sending the supervisory documents up to Gaara for revision. Now that the chunin exams are getting closer, Gaara decides he doesn’t have time to worry about his pitiful love life anymore. The annual meetings are starting to ramp up, and on top of that, apparently he has to oversee a medical training course that he’s only recently been informed of. Kankuro puts those papers on the top of his stack. 

Gaara decides to throw all of his energy into the work in front of him. The distraction helps but it causes him stress, and he never sleeps well when he’s stressed. By the next day, he’s exhausted, has snapped at Kankuro and Temari all morning, and realized that maybe he needs to take a half day and go take care of his plants or something. 

He’s sitting in a smaller meeting room, dozing off during another conference, a menacing quiet surrounding him. From the people around him, it’s scary when Gaara is this quiet. They remember a lot of what used to happen.

“He isn’t sleeping again, Baki, just send him home,” Temari sighs. “You know how he gets.”

“He’s just got other stuff going on, guy stuff, he’s fine,” Kankuro rolls his eyes. It seems to be Gaara’s normal stress response- which is to overwork himself. 

“You’re right. The meeting is adjourned for today anyway, we have Konoha shinobi coming later- there’s no reason for him to be here,” Baki agrees, and turns to Gaara. “Gaara, take a half day, huh?”

Gaara blinks over at him. He can barely keep his eyes open. “Why?”

“Cause you need to sleep, idiot,” Kankuro butts in. Temari glares at him. 

“I am fine.”

“You’re falling asleep at the table,” says Temari. “We’ll call you tonight when Shizune gets here, okay?”

Kankuro hasn’t mentioned Shizune isn’t coming. 

“There are also concerns for the new training program… who is going to finish that?” Gaara asks. “It has to be done by tonight.”

“Someone will take care of it. Okay? That’s what you have all of us for,” urges Baki. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. I’m the one who gives the orders.” Gaara rises from his seat at the table and tries to stifle a yawn. 

Kankuro rolls his eyes. “Go take a nap, brat.”

Gaara gives him a glare, and Kankuro knows to stand down. Besides, if they can get Gaara out of their way for tonight, it makes everyone’s job easier. He’s been so irritable all week that working with him is just becoming a hassle.

“Please let me know if there is anything I can do,” Gaara says, as he heads down the hallway, already taking his Kazekage hat off. He’s in such a sour mood.

His house is a short walk away, and he goes straight up to his bedroom, hanging up his Kage robe. If he’s done for the day, he’d like to feel like it. He pulls open a drawer to change his shirt, searching for something casual, and that’s when he realizes one is missing. 

His lips curl into a silent smile. He doesn’t know a lot about love, but he does know that when someone is special to you, you take something to remember them by. He always notices that Temari will keep an ashtray out by the window for Shikamaru if he wants to smoke a cigarette, and then doesn’t bother to throw them away. Kankuro has some gold dust from their father that he keeps. Even Gaara has all of his pictures that sit by his window. 

But he never thought somebody would take something to keep from him. 

He knows things have a way of solving themselves, and maybe he should keep his mind from going too fast and give it a rest. So instead of changing, he keeps his shirt off, changes into some pants that are more comfortable, and decides he should try and sleep. 

It’s midday, but he’s hoping that maybe the light will ease him into comfortable slumber as he climbs into bed. Kankuro always feels better after a nap. Why wouldn’t he?

It almost feels awkward, trying to force sleep on himself. He’s blessed that he can now, and that Shukaku no longer drives him through droves of insomnia fueled insanity, but it’s different. Just because Shukaku’s gone doesn’t mean that the nightmares have gone with him. 

It always seems that the more exhausted he is, the worse his dreams are, and Gaara’s self care cat nap lasts maybe an hour and a half before he’s jolting awake. He sits up in a panic, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, eyes wide and frantic. He convinces himself that he has to calm down, and takes a minute with his head in his hands to catch his breath. It wasn’t real- none of it was real- it never is. 

While he’s so distracted, his guard is down. He can always sense when there are people in his house- Baki and his siblings have keys- and can typically sense whether they’re familiar or not. Right now while he’s in a panic, he can’t feel the people moving around downstairs in his living room. He’s not focused.

That is, until there’s a knock at his bedroom door. Out of sheer anxiety there’s sand floating up in the air around him, and he has to compose himself. They’re familiar to him, and the sand disappears. 

“Come in,” says Gaara tiredly, running a shaky hand over his face, expecting Kankuro or Temari. 

“Is this a bad time?”

“Sakura?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's all take a moment to appreciate Kankuro being the best brother in the world


	7. The Kazekage Sleeps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promised you guys another update since the last chapter was a lot of drabble (and I feel bad for the last cliffhanger heheh) I think a lot of you will enjoy this one :)

The entire walk back to Suna had been filled with contemplation for Sakura. She’d been faced with a realization: she was coming back for a reason. While she had a team of medical ninjas with her, and a job to do this entire week, she had been more focused on a certain t-shirt in her backpack than anything else. 

“I told you you should’ve stayed,” Kankuro says, when he and Baki meet Sakura and her team at the gate. “See what happens when you miss out on a date?” He can see what Gaara’s attracted to. Even incredibly tired from a long walk, Sakura is still beautiful; she’s tall and slim, radiant in the sun. It’s unbelievable to Kankuro that his dorky brother pulls women like this. 

“It’s nice to see you too, Kankuro, Baki,” Sakura nods towards each of them with a smile. She looks past them, as if waiting for someone else. 

“Gaara’s at home,” says Kankuro, hands resting behind his neck as they walk towards the village. “He gets annoying when he doesn’t sleep. I told him to go and rest.” 

Sakura doesn’t even recall asking about Gaara. “I actually had something to give to him,” she says. “I suppose I can just do it later.”

As a self-declared chief matchmaker, Kankuro has a fire lit under him. He can’t stop now. He’s determined to make this come full circle, and that’s why he’s the one that lets Sakura in and directs her upstairs like she hasn’t climbed those steps before. 

That’s how Sakura finds herself poking her head into Gaara’s bedroom, but he looks like he’s just seen a ghost. Does she look that ugly today?”

“I can come back later…?”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Gaara says quickly, waving his hand. “You just scared me. What are you doing here? Not like- what are you  _ doing _ here, but- what are you doing  _ here _ ?” He has a lot less game when he’s sober.

“Tsunade had to send me back to train the medical teams for the exams.”

“Shizune’s name was on all the paperwork.” He remembers signing it himself. There’s no way he would’ve missed Sakura.

“Tsunade said the Sand requested me herself.” 

“Perhaps I misread.”

Silence looms between them. Gaara wanted her to come back all this time, but now he doesn’t know what to say. Where were all the lines he had two nights ago?

Sakura closes the door behind her. She doesn’t know what she expected when Kankuro said Gaara was resting, but maybe she hadn’t been prepared to walk into something like this. He looks uneasy.

“Are you okay?”

Gaara blinks, and looks over at her. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Did I wake you?”

Gaara shakes his head. “Not at all. I was already awake.”

“You look like you’ve just had the worst dream ever,” Sakura jokes, leaning back against the closed door.

“I did.” Gaara closes his eyes. Before Sakura can comment on it, he asks, “How was your trip here?” Listening to her is a pleasant distraction from the nightmare he can still feel lurking in his body.

“It was fine. Knocked out some stupid kids playing ninja at the border, it’s like.. Stealing my bag isn’t a game,” Sakura rambles on for a few minutes. She thinks it’s embarrassing, but Gaara has leaned forward in bed, resting his chin on his hand while he listens to her. He likes the sound of her voice. 

“I bet you sent them running.”

“I did!” Sakura huffs, and then shakes her head. “That’s besides the point, though. I wanted to apologize to you,” she says. 

“Apologize?”

“I shouldn’t have left like that.”

“You did what you thought was best.”

“It wasn’t what was best.”

Silence hangs between them again. 

Sakura shrugs, looking down at her feet. “I went to bed wishing I had just spent the night here. And actually talked to you about what happened between us, and… get to know you without being drunk off my ass.” She laughs softly, “Even though that was fun too. I just… when Lady Tsunade said I had another assignment here, I knew it wasn’t just the mission.”

“It was to come talk to me?” Not only is Gaara inexperienced, he’s kind of emotionally inept. Sakura will have to spell it out for him. 

She realizes this, though, and she doesn’t mind. “Yes,” Sakura laughs. “Because I had some unfinished business with you. And I also stole something from your bedroom by accident.” On purpose. 

“I was wondering about that. I didn’t mind that you took it. Was it something to remember me by?”

He puts it so bluntly Sakura feels like she should be embarrassed, but instead, it’s endearing. “Something like that.”

“Hmm. Okay.” This makes sense to him. Kankuro is always complaining when girls take his shirts, but Gaara doesn’t quite understand his frustration. Deep in thought and searching for a line, Gaara finally looks at Sakura and says, “Do you have to be somewhere right now?”

“The meetings are all in the morning. I don’t have the energy to do any preliminary rounds.”

“Are you tired?”

For being the one with experience here, Sakura misses any shred of a hint. In fact, it flies right over her head. “I’m exhausted. I hate that walk, you know? Cha. There was even a sand snake in my bag.”

“Would you like to take a nap?”

Sakura slides her bag off of her shoulders, “I really would.”

Even as stressed and overworked as he is, Gaara still looks so effortlessly sweet. Sakura’s answer makes him smile- he’s quickly learned that she makes him smile a lot- and he even moves over to give her an equal half of the bed. 

Sakura reaches into her bag, pulls out Gaara’s shirt, and then lets it thump to the ground. “I know I said I came to return this,” she hums, as she changes into it, “but I think I can get one more use out of it.”

“You might as well keep it,” says Gaara, as he shuffles to lay down on his back with an arm behind his head. 

The bed dips, and Sakura climbs under the covers next to him. “You look more beat than I do.”

“I’ve been resting, don’t worry.”

“Yeah?” Sakura moves closer to him and puts her head on his chest. He’s sort of cold and still feels shaky. “Still shaken up from that dream?”

“I’m okay now,” Gaara reassures her. “I will be staying awake.”

“What happened in it?”

The way Gaara dreams is often abstract nowadays. He supposes he can’t really explain it. “I can’t really describe it. It makes me feel… crazy.” He closes his eyes. He’s too tired to keep them open. “Have you ever felt like that?”

Sakura just lets him talk. She wonders if maybe something like this will put him to sleep. Gaara’s voice lulls in between his sentences as he describes to her the details of his dream. His voice is soft and gentle, and he yawns between sentences.

Despite how hard he tries, he eventually dozes off. Sakura gets to watch whatever happens to him almost every time his sleep patterns get so out of wack. The room is suddenly hazy with sand, stray grains floating over the ground, just a few inches up as if waiting for some kind of order. 

Gaara doesn’t sleep still like he did when he was passed out drunk. Sakura moves off of him because of how anxious he’s breathing, how his brow furrows, how the sweat that just dried from the previous dream comes right back to cover his body. Her heart tightens as she thinks about the fact that this is only one of the things he’s had to deal with his entire life- and this is when it’s better. Is this who he is? Is this what he’s plagued with?

The sand starts to rise further above the ground, lying in wait for Gaara to give it some shape, and Sakura shakes his shoulder once, twice. 

The third time she nudges him, the sand disappears, and his eyes fly open with a gasp. Now she can see what he means about feeling crazy. His eyes are so wide with frustration and anguish, his shoulders so tense with fatigue and anxiety. 

“You were dreaming again,” Sakura whispers, when his head finally turns to look at her. When she runs a hand over his chest, she can feel his heart going a million miles an hour. 

“Usually it’s not this bad. I’m usually not this  _ insane,  _ I-”

“You are not insane.” Sakura looks him straight in the face. “What happens to you because you were a Jinchuriki is not any fault of your own. You are anything but insane.”

“I feel insane.”

“Because you need rest,” Sakura strokes the side of his face, and then brushes his bangs out of his eyes. His hair is damp with sweat, and stays back when she pushes it. “You’re even exerting chakra when you sleep. All that sand is moving. That’s why you’re so worn out.”

She isn’t sure if it’s the medical ninja in her or the woman that makes her care about him so immensely. Maybe a little of both. More than anything, she wants peace for him- someone she’s come to care so much about in so little time. 

Gaara turns his body towards her. Sakura moves her leg over his to pull herself closer, and continues to just run her hand through his hair, taking into account everything she’d missed about him, everything she was so attracted to. 

“You have to take care of yourself,” she murmurs. 

“I try to,” answers Gaara. The energy in the room physically changes for him when he can feel Sakura next to him. For Gaara, Sakura embodies a sense of calm that he involuntarily craves. “Tell me about a good dream that you’ve had. Any kind.” He’s trying to get his breathing under control. 

“A good dream?” Sakura smiles warmly. 

For a moment, she’s reminded of almost the same notion of putting a child to bed- talking to them in a soothing tone, holding them close, making them feel safe. And she wonders if Gaara’s ever received that in his life. 

She pulls him close, moving up so her head is over his, holding him against her. Her hand settles in his hair to keep smoothing it the way she has been, though every now and then it’ll move to scratch over his back and then back up again to his neck. 

Gaara, in his entire life, has never felt precious to someone in the way that he does now. 

Sakura wants to tell him the most gentle story in the world to push out everything crowding his mind. “I do have this one dream I’ve actually had a few times. I only have it when I’m really tired, I think…” 

Gaara feels Sakura’s chest thrum gently with her voice, as well as the dull thud of her heartbeat in his ear. It’s steady, quiet. It seems to overpower everything he’s thinking about. 

“Ino and I arrange flowers sometimes. And she’s always better than me, but I think I’m pretty good. Anyways…” her nails skim over his back, “I always have this dream that I’m arranging flowers in the prettiest field. And it’s such a nice day, it’s a really sweet activity. But I can never find the last flower to fill the bouquet, and right before I do, I always wake up.”

“What is the weather like?” Gaara asks quietly. 

“Huh?”

“In your dream.”

“Oh,” Sakura smiles. “It’s always very nice. Sunny. Not too hot, not too cold. Always warm, though. Like the beginning of summer.”

Gaara’s eyes close. He could listen to her talk all day, could be held like this for hours, could be cared about for as long as Sakura wanted. She smells soft, with a hint of perfume she probably put on this morning, the same kind that stayed in his sheets the morning after she’d left. 

“What flowers were in your bouquet?” He brings an arm around her waist, though leaves his hand over her (his) shirt. His hands are still shaking, and they feel sort of clammy, so he figures that’s a touch she doesn’t need. 

Sakura is reminded that Gaara likes flowers. “They’re always different. Usually roses, I love those. Daffodils. Narcissus. Those are my favorites, I think. They’re beautiful.”

“I will have to arrange some flowers for you sometime,” Gaara says. He takes a deep breath, letting himself lean into Sakura’s touch. “I will try to make them as beautiful as you are.”

Sakura beams. “Yeah?”

She can feel his breaths growing more relaxed next to her. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to be held. 

“I could even show you the ones that grow locally. I have some in the courtyard I’ve been cultivating…” Gradually, Gaara’s voice grows lazy again. His arm grows heavier around her middle.

“I’m sure they’re beautiful,” Sakura says soothingly, “You’ll have to show me.”

“I will once we have some time. Tomorrow, maybe,” Gaara murmurs against her skin, clearly slipping back out of consciousness.

“I’ll be here,” she says gently. “Get some sleep.”

Gaara mumbles incoherently, sleepily, in response. She keeps her fingers carding through his hair, red and messy, thick and straight. 

Sakura smiles lightly at the notion that like a child, all the Kazekage really needed was a good nap.

This time, as Gaara’s heartbeat slows and his breaths grow increasingly gentle, he doesn’t toss and turn. There’s no crease in his brow or shallow panting. This time, Gaara stays pressed against Sakura, finally falling into well deserved sleep even if it’s at an obscure time of 4 PM. 

She stays up to make sure nothing plagues him. Peace hangs gently in the air. And for once, Gaara stays asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff for all of you - I think y'all deserve it after all the chaos!!  
> I update this around 1-3 AM most evenings. Hoping I go to bed after this and dream about arranging flowers, too. 
> 
> As always, thank you guys so much for reading. I appreciate it so, so much. <3


	8. Take Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me INSANE writer's block for some fucking reason but it's here!! And I love y'all!!!
> 
> I truly did not intend on Kankuro becoming such a pronounced character but lately I've been thinking about him as Gaara's best man and that makes me weep <3

Both of them desperately need the rest. It’s something neither of them really get a chance to do in their line of work

As he wakes up, Gaara is vaguely reminded that Kankuro said he would send for him in the evening, but that hasn’t happened yet, and it’s nearly eight. He assumes he isn’t. More importantly, he wakes up in a mess of blankets and all wrapped up in Sakura. In the back of his mind, though, he feels like he should stop by the office. Maybe just to see what he missed today. 

Outside, the sun is starting to set and the sky is littered with deep oranges and pinks as the village starts to wind down.

Next to him, Sakura seems like she’s been awake for a while, but is content to just lay with him. “Did you sleep well?” 

“I did,” Gaara yawns, lazily stretching his arms over his head. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Sakura turns to lay on her stomach, head propped on her elbows as she looks over at him. 

“Just spending some time with me. I thoroughly enjoy your company.” The angle of the night is strange for Gaara. Normally, he’d probably go have a late night at the office, make himself some dinner, and go over paperwork by himself until morning. It’s exciting and foreign all at the same time to suddenly have another person be part of the equation. 

“I’m glad I came to see you.”

The light coming through the window bends in a way that makes warm, orange sunlight pool through the room for just a few seconds, as the clouds shift and the sun descends.

“Me too.” Gaara slowly sits up, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to make it look somewhat presentable, but an afternoon of sleep probably isn’t helpful. “I have to make up all the paperwork from today,” he yawns again, blinking and shaking his head to wake himself up. “But, um…”

This is where it’s uncharted territory for Gaara. He knows, undeniably, that the next step is to take Sakura out. Right? But he has a village to run. And if he doesn’t get the paperwork under control, the Chunin exams could possibly be delayed. Conversely, if he doesn’t do something fun with Sakura, won’t she get bored and leave? He’s clearly lost in thought. 

“What?” Sakura asks, “You never finished what you were going to say.”

Sakura is learning rather quickly that more than anything, Gaara is  _ awkward _ . He handles it with grace, usually, is self aware that he’s strange, but Sakura truly didn’t know she was this difficult to him.

“I should take you out on a date, shouldn’t I?” Gaara asks, suddenly sitting up very straight. 

Sakura laughs pleasantly. “A date?”

Gaara’s eyes are nearly unfocused as he zones out in thought, racking his brain for every example he’s seen from Shikamaru and Temari. They go on dates, right? They go on dates. “Yes.”

“Oh, you’re cute. I think a date sounds fun. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Gaara deadpans. He has no idea. 

“That means you don’t know.”

“I’m the Kazekage. You think I can run a village and can’t plan a date?” It’s the first time he’s joked with her today. It makes Sakura grin widely.

Gaara owes it to his nature as a shinobi to be so cool, but he’s panicking. He has no clue of what to do. Every date he’s been on- which is a firm three- has been either set up by an elder or Baki. They’ve also been incredibly awkward most of the time, and he truly wonders if Sakura thinks he was good in bed because they were both absolutely annihilated, because his “pulling” is having sex twice. 

Maybe he’s just a really good actor. He always has been.

“The last date I went on, the boy made me cry. So,” Sakura chirps, beaming at him, “do better, okay?”

“I won’t make you cry. And… it’ll be really fun. I’m... fun.” Gaara isn’t sure if this pep talk is for Sakura or if it’s for him. He needs to convince himself he can be normal sometimes. 

“Then it’s a date.” Sakura leans over to pinch his cheek, then back to pull the covers off. “I think I’ve been slacking enough for today. I’m going to brief my team before tomorrow.” She is here on a mission after all. 

“I wouldn’t want to keep you from your mission.” Gaara means this wholeheartedly. He also admires Sakura’s work ethic. She never seems to miss a beat. 

Lazily, she slides out of bed, stretching her arms over her head. She runs her hands through her pink hair, brushing it back. She turns to him with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Gaara.”

~

That night is quiet, something reminiscent of what Gaara always does on long days. He enjoys nights like this alone in his office, catching up on what needs to be done, enjoys looking at the stars outside while eating dinner at half past ten PM. He’s always up. That’s just how he is. 

The village is nice and peaceful, with the night life just beginning. The weather is so nice tonight that Gaara thinks even Shikamaru and Temari would go out. They're home bodies.

As he leans back in his desk chair and drums his fingers over a few last forms, he wonders what it would be like to have somebody waiting for him. Part of him wants to track Sakura down and ask her to come back with him, but he feels raunchy doing that. He’s decided they need to stop doing murky things until they get to know each other some more. Besides, they both have work to do.

His thoughts are interrupted by the door bursting open. Gaara doesn’t even flinch because there’s only one person who’ll obnoxiously open the door without knocking. 

“Hey, brat. Have a good nap?” Kankuro drops a pile of papers on his desk. He’s still dressed in his day clothes, which means he has no plans for the evening- or at least Gaara assumes he wouldn’t go out wearing his hood and face paint. 

“Yes,” Gaara says. 

Kankuro looks at him as if he’s waiting for something. “It was just good?”

“Yes?”

“Nothing happened during it?”

“It depends what you mean,” Gaara says casually, pulling a paper out of a folder. “Is this the Chunin exam arena map? It looks a little over the top this year.”

“You’re so goddamn annoying. Did you talk to Sakura?” Kankuro scoffs. “Yes, that’s the map. Konoha’s paying for it, so I’m not really concerned.”

“Lovely. Certainly a poison forest isn’t in our budget- I actually did speak with Sakura,” says Gaara.

“And?!”

“Where are you supposed to take girls on dates?”

Kankuro laughs incredulously. “No  _ way. _ You asked her out?”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do, yes?”

“I mean, yeah. So you’re, like… you like her?”

“I do.”

“Unbelievable. And she likes you back? With that haircut?”

Gaara runs a hand over his head. “Should I change it?”

Kankuro rolls his eyes. “I’m joking. I’m just saying. But hey,” he hops down off of the desk, so he can stand in front of it and look Gaara in the eye. “Man to man,” he says, pointing at him. “You’re gonna take Haruno Sakura on the best date she’s ever been on.”

“She said the last one she went on, the guy made her cry.”

“Then don’t be an idiot, huh?” Kankuro leans over to punch Gaara’s shoulder. “Maybe act cool, and open doors for her and stuff, and tell her she looks nice. And don’t talk about plants.”

Gaara pulls out a piece of paper from the stack on his desk as well as a pen. “Say that again?”

“Are you  _ writing this down?” _

“Is that not what you do when you learn?” 

“You’re--” Kankuro nearly facepalms, but is wary of his face paint. “Yeah. Yeah, write that down, you big weirdo. Jesus. I gotta go.”

“It’s a nice night. Are you going out?”

Kankuro scrunches his nose. “Nah. Had a few too many the other day and I need a break. Plus, with all this Chunin bullshit, I constantly have to be up early…” he prattles on for a moment. “Anyways, I’m heading home. Maybe don’t stay up until four in the morning so you won’t be creepy and exhausted on your date.”

“Creepy and exhausted?” Gaara’s only mildly offended at this.

“You heard me. Get some rest,” Kankuro says, waving at Gaara as he walks out of the office. “Good night, Gaara.”

Perhaps Kankuro’s incessant digging is just a way of showing Gaara that he cares. He’s truly the only one that talks to Gaara like this, and Gaara’s content with it staying that way. He knows that Kankuro won’t lie to him. Gaara’s been lied to his entire life.

Gaara decides to take Kankuro’s advice. He finishes the extra load of work, then calls it a night around midnight. He has an early start tomorrow as well, considering the meetings never stop, and he tries his very best to get some sleep. Maybe it’s because he’s looking forward to the day tomorrow, or because his sheets smell like Sakura, but he sleeps just fine.

~

The next morning, Sakura is so busy with the medical corp she doesn’t even have time to think about whatever she’s doing later- which Gaara still hasn’t informed her on. It’s very boyish, and she’s ready to be annoyed by the time it hits two in the afternoon. In fact, she’s prepared to give him a piece of her mind. She’s been working all day. She eventually punches a table when somebody asks her a stupid question, and walks out of the medical center to get some air. The problem with Sunagakure air, though, is that it’s hot. And dry. All the time. Or maybe she’s just irritated. 

She’s distracted when the sun is blocked by a shape coming towards her. The closer it gets, she realizes it’s a messenger hawk. At first she thinks it’s something from Konoha, but upon a closer look it’s a Suna bird. Sakura assumes it’s Sand business and unfurls the piece of paper the hawk has. It’s not official village parchment; it’s something much more casual. 

_ Sakura, _

_ I hope your day is going well. I will pick you up at 7 for our date!  _

It’s not signed, but there’s only one person it could possibly be from. Sakura laughs to herself at how she can hear Gaara’s voice in the way he writes. His penmanship is meticulously neat, much like him, and she gently folds up the paper and slips it into her pocket. The rest of this day might not be so hard to get through after all.

With the message having brightened her day, Sakura goes back into the medical center with a clear head and her cheeks pinker than before. She’ll blame it on the Suna heat. She has a smidge more patience now, and she manages to accomplish everything on the docket for today. They’re so productive that they even end early, which gives her time to properly go and get ready. She doesn’t even know what she’s getting ready  _ for.  _ On top of that, it’s been ages since she went out like this. It’s mostly chalked up to the fact that she doesn’t have time for herself.

Time feels like it moves slower in the Sand. She watches the sun change angles through her window as she gets ready, watches how the villagers go about their days outside. Everything moves smoothly like molasses compared to the constant chaos of Konoha, and it’s a peaceful change of scenery. Maybe that’s why she’s filled with this childish excitement; a feeling of something new blossoming in her chest. 

It also feels nice to be a human when she’s here in the evenings, not a shinobi. Sometimes it feels like every time Sakura tries to rest in Konoha, someone has another task for her. It’s difficult remembering that she’s not a machine. She can let her headband slip off, and leaves her shinobi tools in her bedroom. It’s nice to be just Sakura for tonight. 

A knock at her door brings her to attention. A quick glance at the clock proves her assumption right: she knew Gaara would be right on time. For a second, she freezes with anxiety. 

At the door, Gaara is frantically going over everything he’s ever learned about human interaction in his life. Maybe his one fatal flaw is that he overthinks. He’s talked to Sakura plenty of times. She even seems to enjoy talking to him, he reminds himself. She looks into his eyes. She laughs at his jokes. She  _ gets _ his jokes. This will be fun. He’s fun.  _ He can be fun. _

The door opens. “Hi,” Sakura says breezily. 

It takes Gaara by surprise, so much that he nearly drops the flowers he’s holding, blinking owlishly out at her. Kankuro’s voice echoes in his head.  _ Act cool. _

“Hi,” he stammers after a few seconds of recovery. “These are for you.”

“They are?” Sakura beams, “They’re beautiful. Thank you- oh, I wish I had something to put them in. There’s got to be something in here, huh?” She prattles on, mostly to herself as she takes them. Half of her own rambling is out of nerves, too, and she gets to busy herself with looking around the space. It’s a sand hotel, so it’s pretty basic. 

For a moment, Gaara flounders. He feels like an idiot, his brain scrambling to find something that could possibly substitute for a vase, until the solution that usually dawns on him faster than anything comes to mind. He doesn’t have his gourd- this is a date and it would be tacky- but he does have the sand around him. While Sakura glances around the doorway, Gaara sets to work on bringing some sand up from the ground, forming it into a shape. When he closes his fist, the sand not only hardens, but clears to glass. 

“Something like this?” He takes the vase, and holds it out to her. 

Sakura’s eyes are wide, a grin on her face. “How did you…?” She takes the vase and sets the flowers in it, placing it aside on the counter. 

“Glass is just liquid sand. I suppose I should have thought of that earlier. I’ve really only done it a few times.” Gaara sets his hands back in his pockets.  _ Now that was cool.  _ Check.

Sakura thinks this might be one of the only times she’s seen Gaara without his arms crossed over his chest. He looks casual. He’s not dressed in extravagant Kage robes. In fact, he looks like any other boy on his day off, and it’s charming. “I think you’re better at this than you think,” she laughs, eyes twinkling with sincerity. 

“I’ve been studying.”

Sakura laughs again, and Gaara declines to tell her that he hadn’t been joking. “Let’s go,” he says instead, “I bet you had a long day. Let’s go do something fun.”  _ Open the door for her and stuff. _ He stands to the side to let Sakura walk out the door first, and then follows her out. 

“Is it still a surprise?” Sakura asks.

“Something like that. I guess you will see everything as we go,” Gaara hums.  _ Tell her she looks nice.  _ He pauses to wait for Sakura as she locks the door behind her, and they start down the path to the village. “Oh, Sakura?”

“What?”

“You look nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this awkward Gaara absolutely fucking sends me and I love him anyways I hope you all have a WONDERFUL night!! Cheers from Ohio at 2 AM. Thank you for reading as always.


	9. Anko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO have some date fluff!!!

Sakura beams at the compliment. Maybe she’d underestimated Gaara. He looks nervous, but he’s doing everything right so far in Sakura’s book. And this date’s only been going on for about five minutes. “Thank you! I feel like I never see you dressed so… casual,” she smiles. 

For a moment, Gaara looks alarmed, and Sakura catches this. “You’re not underdressed. You just look like a normal person. Not that you’re not normal--”

“You seem to be overthinking,” Gaara interrupts, and sometimes, he can’t believe the hypocrite he is. 

Sakura is grateful. “I am, huh? I’m nervous.” Gaara’s most certainly the hypocrite. At least Sakura has the nerve to talk about her feelings. 

“Don’t be nervous. You have plenty of hours in the day to be nervous,” Gaara offers. Is this reassuring? He doesn’t really know. 

“Ah, it’s gone away,” Sakura says dryly. 

“Really?”

“No!” 

Gaara smiles. There’s a hint of a laugh behind his lips, pressed together still like he’s holding something back. “My apologies. If you’re not too nervous, I was going to take you around the south area of the village.”

Sometimes Sakura thinks Gaara’s seriousness is all an act. He always seems to have perfectly timed jokes and jabs, even if the ones directed at him sometimes fly over his head. She’s learning slowly that there’s a lot more to him than what everybody sees. “Hmm? What’s the south area?”

“Somewhere I’m sure you haven’t gotten to yet. We were just at the outskirts when we went out the other week,” answers Gaara. “It’s where all the good markets are.”

Surprisingly, Gaara had thought of this himself. A trip to the south end of the village just meant taking Sakura all around his now-favorite places- places that honestly didn’t even serve or acknowledge him until he was older- and getting to talk to her. That was truly all he wanted to do. 

“Do I get to try some weird Sand food? Shikamaru says it’s all different, and the meat is drier and you don’t have curry, but really good desserts?”

Gaara feels himself smiling, and he’s not sure why. It’s just Sakura rambling. “Weird Sand food,” he seconds. “You may be right. I don’t know that anybody around here knows how to make curry. I don’t,” he admits. 

“It’s easy,” Sakura waves her hands. “The dumplings are always better in Konoha, though. Everywhere I go. Especially the anko ones.”

Gaara scrunches his nose and shakes his head. “Yuck.”

Sakura’s eyes widen. “Yuck?!”

“Absolutely yuck,” Gaara declares. “I don’t really eat sweets- well, no. I don’t mind eating them as a formality… but red bean paste is a difficult one. I’ve thrown red bean flavored things away before,” he laughs a little. 

“That’s my favorite,” Sakura laughs, “do they have them here? Maybe I’ll get one so you won’t want a bite.”

Truthfully, part of the reason Gaara never eats sweets is the crushing reality that he was never offered treats as a child. Birthdays were another day, usually, and his father barely paid enough attention to him as it was. Or maybe he’s overthinking it and he really doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth. “Maybe I’ll try it again, but this time solely out of spite.”

“Better not throw it away.”

“I’ll try my hardest.”

As they walk, Sakura takes time to appreciate the look of the village as it starts to wind down. Around them, children are home from school, enjoying the night with their families. Stray dogs run past them every now and then. Gaara is an engaged tour guide and an even kinder villager, because every few seconds, someone new stops him to say hello. 

_ “Kazekage-sama!” _

_ “It’s a wonderful night, Lord Kazekage!” _

_ “You’re welcome for dinner, Kazekage!” _

_ “Thank you for all you do, Kazekage-sama!” _

_ “It’s the Kazekage!” _

With his quiet nature, Gaara mostly just waves, but he stops to briefly exchange hellos as well. This is something Sakura was always curious to see, how his village so graciously held him as one of their own. 

“--not in front of Kazekage-sama--!”

Sakura is pulled from her thoughts when a ball rolls in front of their feet, clearly belonging to some village kids who all go chasing after it. 

“We’re so sorry!” A little boy is sprinting towards them with a ball. “The blue team always kicks way too far--”

Gaara says nothing, just bends down to retrieve the ball, staying at eye level with the child as he holds it out. “Maybe you should kick it even farther, then,” he teases gently, “if you want to win!”

The young boy smiles tentatively at first, and then wider and wider as Gaara continues to talk. “Thank you, Kazekage-sama,” he laughs. “Do you want to play?”

“If I played, there wouldn’t be much of a competition, would there?” Gaara’s eyes twinkle humorously. “Good luck with your game.” He stands, watching as the boy runs off with his friends. 

“They all admire you so much,” Sakura smiles. “You remind me of Lord Third. He was always so kind to everyone in the village.”

“He was a good leader,” comments Gaara. He turns back to look at her, pausing as if in thought. “I’m not the Kazekage today, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m your date,” he says simply, as he just keeps walking, and Sakura doesn’t know how he can get away with saying things like that. He’s making her swoon and she doesn’t even think he’s trying. 

“Is that so? Wait up!” 

They’ve unintentionally reached their destination. There are lanterns hung up over the alleyway, and smoke from the barbeque fills the air. The closer they are, the louder it gets, with people laughing and music playing. On either side of them there are local vendors, especially trying to woo them over now that Gaara has made an appearance.

Sakura appreciates how Gaara moves through the village he rules so gracefully, but also like any other villager. He’s dressed simply, in some black pants that fit him well and a black jacket that matches something Kankuro would wear, with a hood in the back. In fact, Sakura wonders if it is Kankuro’s. (It used to be, but he’s since outgrown it and Gaara has been wearing it for years.)

Gaara had picked it solely because he knew he would need a jacket. The desert temperatures drop at night, and he doesn’t do well with the cold. He hates it, actually. His siblings often make fun of him whenever they travel for missions because he brings socks and thermal underwear.

As it starts to get more crowded, Sakura moves closer just to catch up to Gaara so she doesn’t lose him. She knows she should be more discreet, but she figures that if Gaara’s confident enough to take her out for a romantic evening in public, he’s probably confident enough to say he’s seeing someone. That’s what draws her to move forward and grab onto his arm, trailing next to him as he leads her through a throng of people.

Gaara isn’t at all used to having people hang onto him like this. He’s certainly never had anybody who wanted to be close to him in this way, but it fills him with happiness and importance. Sakura’s evening is in his hands. He’d like her to remember it fondly.

Further down the street the crowd thins out so they can walk a reasonable distance apart again, but Sakura stays hanging onto Gaara’s arm. The sun is starting to set, it’s nearly half past eight. It paints the marketplace in all shades of pinks and purples, with a hint of gold at the corners. 

“I believe that stand was made for you,” Gaara pipes up, pointing ahead. There’s a woman selling dumplings, as well as a collection of sweet and savory buns. Without preamble, he moves towards it. 

“Kazekage-sama! What brings you to the south?” The woman gasps, feverishly assorting her goods as if to make them neater. 

“A date,” answers Gaara, to which Sakura pinks. He bends over slightly with a hand on his chin; thoughtfully, inquisitively, to peek at the collection of food for sale. “Are those pork?” He muses.

“Yes! The mitarashi selection is over here, as well,” stammers the shopkeeper. “Anything you’d like, sir. The pleasure is all mine.”

Still looking as if he’s deep in thought, Gaara merely shakes his head in response. He has plenty of his own money. He points as he speaks. “Two green teas, please… I would love a container of anko dumplings- yes, the ones right there, thank you… oh, are those potato?... Those. Or the pork? Which do you think would be better?”

The woman looks like she’s about to faint or kiss him if he talks any longer. Sakura agrees. There’s something adorable about watching Gaara carefully weigh his options. Switching up the flavors on the stick of dumplings, the woman she gives him one of each flavor that she has. 

Gaara laughs charmingly as he hands her a few bills, refusing for this to be on the house. Sakura is left preening because he remembered her favorite food even if she’d told him about it 20 minutes ago. 

“Thank you,” smiles Sakura, as they sit down to wait for their food. 

“You’re welcome- do you take honey in your tea?” Gaara says, because all of his focus is on the honey ladle in front of them. This is another quirk of his that makes his siblings make fun of him. 

“I think that’s a weird Sand thing,” teases Sakura, shaking her head. 

“I figured. It’s good for your immune system. And I like it. It’s not too sweet. And it makes it thicker.”

Watching Gaara’s eyes light up when their food comes makes Sakura wonder about how she’s never actually seen him eat. There have been joint missions, village parties, she’s even spent the night at his house, but apparently he runs on air. Or maybe she always catches him at a professional time. But she reminds herself that he’s not the Kazekage tonight, and right now, he’s a cute boy getting excited about different flavors of dango.

Gaara’s teeth are white. She’d never really noticed before, as Gaara never smiles with them. They’re mostly straight. Sakura attributes this to him never actually being punched in the face. Her own bottom teeth are still out of place from a fight when she was fifteen. 

“Are they any good?” Sakura asks, to which Gaara nods, the stick of dumplings still between his lips. He swallows, and then looks pensive.

“I would rate the potato in first, the pork in second, and the plain in third,” he clarifies. He absentmindedly is chewing on the side of the stick still.

Sakura laughs between bites of anko-filled dough. She holds one out to him. “Are you sure you don’t want one…?”

Gaara turns his nose up like a spoiled child. 

“I should’ve known you wouldn’t like sweets. You’re so serious all the time.” Her ankle brushes his; her legs are swinging above the ground as she sits in the chair. 

“I smile a good amount.”

“Right.”

“I always thought you were serious too. You’re very…” Gaara licks the last bit of sauce off of the dango stick and sets it down. “You are much lighter than I am… and very funny, and you talk a lot. That’s not a bad thing,” he says quickly, when she pales. “I like that you talk a lot because I don’t talk very much… and I like listening to your voice.”

Gaara’s compliments are heartwarmingly honest and passionate. “You do?” Sakura asks. By now she’s resting her chin on both of her hands as she looks at him next to her. 

Gaara nods. “I told you yesterday that I enjoy your company.”

“You’re not worried about what the council thinks?”

This is a loaded question. Professionally, yes, Gaara worries about the council’s opinion. However, he’s defied just about every rule they’ve placed before him in the past. Besides, if Temari can have romantic ventures outside of the Sand, why shouldn’t he?

“It’s not so much their opinion I’m worried about,” he begins, taking a slow sip of tea. “The only reason they want me to marry into the Sand is so I’d have an heir. The Kazekage position is one of blood.”

Sakura shifts, turns her attention to her steaming cup of tea. That’s certainly something she can’t offer. And it’s something incredibly far into the future- too messy for her. She keeps listening to him instead of interrupting.

“I was engaged in the summer of last year,” Gaara continues, and Sakura chokes.

“Engaged?!”

“It’s a very long story,” Gaara says. He talks about this as if it’s something as casual as how his day was. “She no longer lives in the village. She eloped with a lover,” he hums. “It was an arranged marriage.”

Sakura hadn’t realized the traditional necessity of the Sand. Arranged marriages occurred sometimes in the Leaf, though usually out of clan priority or financial purposes. Nothing relating to the Hokage position. “Did you love her?” 

“No,” says Gaara smoothly, honestly. “We only met a handful of times. I don’t believe I have ever been in love.” Perhaps this is the closest he’s ever gotten. 

Gaara is attractively and heartbreakingly honest. 

“I think I have,” Sakura replies, “but I was a lot younger than I am now.”

“You aren’t very old to begin with,” Gaara says lightly. 

The sun is nearly invisible, now, having descended behind the sand dunes in the distance. A cooling breeze moves through the alley and makes Sakura shiver. She hadn’t realized it got so cold at night here. 

“Everyone from Konoha learns the hard way that the desert is cold at night,” Gaara hums. Wordlessly, he slips down from his stool and unzips his jacket. Sakura wonders where he’s suddenly off to until she feels him behind her, draping his jacket over her shoulders. Gaara isn’t too talented with love, but he knows that a lady shouldn’t be cold while a man has a jacket. 

Underneath he’s wearing a layer of mesh that stops just above his elbows, as well as a t-shirt over it. His pale skin is littered with freckles, he’s all lean arms and bony wrists. “We can head back, if you’d like,” he offers, holding out a hand to her. 

Before she takes it, she slips her arms through the sleeves of Gaara’s jacket. It’s lightweight, like someone could fight in it, but also warm. She steps off her chair. She feels soft skin that isn’t callused, fingers that aren’t scarred, knuckles that aren’t bloody like almost all shinobi. With the way Gaara fights, there’s no reason for him to ever get a scratch. The concept is strange and foreign to her. Her own hands are often gloved because of this, but tonight they’re not. 

“Do you have to be up early tomorrow?” She asks, as she laces their fingers together and they begin to walk in the direction of the main village. 

“Not unreasonably early. I have a meeting at 10.”

“Oh, good. My training seminar starts at 10:30. I didn’t want to keep you out too late if you had to be up soon.”

“I feel like you would know by now that I’m not too concerned about my sleep schedule.”

Sakura laughs and takes an anxious pause. “I hope that means you don’t want tonight to end quite yet, either…?”

“No, I actually meant that I don’t sleep well and in turn I--” Gaara’s literal explanation is rendered useless when he sees Sakura’s deadpan expression. His eyes go wide in misunderstanding, and then slowly narrow while he looks at her, deep in thought. “Were you implying that you want to spend the night?”

“You know, you’re lucky you’re handsome. It lets you get away with being such a boy.”

“You should have just said so, I can’t read your mind--”

“That’s a lot to say for someone who speaks in riddles!”

“I don’t--”

“Cha, yes you do!”

Their little argument dissolves up into the chilly air. It’s silent for a beat until both of them burst into laughter, their hands swinging slightly between them as they start walking again. 

And truthfully, Gaara can’t keep his eyes off of her. Sakura’s eyes are kind, her face gentle, and her personality so much fun that he can’t remember smiling this much in one evening. Is this what his father talked about whenever he mentioned his mother? Is this the feeling Shikamaru hides behind his eyes whenever he looks at Temari? Is this what he wished so strongly that he could’ve felt for Hakuto?

Whatever it is, it wraps around him, makes him feel warm. It surges through him and makes him stop walking.

Sakura turns as if to ask what happened, but instead of explaining, Gaara takes the hand he’s holding and pulls her close, pressing their lips together in the middle of the street. Thoughts of politics and the council leave his mind, work leaves his mind, and instead it’s filled with cherry blossoms. In that instant, both of them know that it was never just the alcohol that pulled them so close together. 

Out of public decency, both of them pull away, but they’re left with their foreheads tipped together. Gaara holds both of her hands, smiling when their noses brush. “The true question about this endeavor is,” he starts, letting go of her hands so he can wind an arm around her shoulders, “how many shirts will I have left over if you keep spending the night?” 

His arms are covered in goosebumps when another desert wind blows over them. Gaara is reminded that he hates the cold, but he doesn’t mind tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed living vicariously through either one of them on their fluffy little date. I have loads of ideas for this fic but one of which is a Boruto-esque timeskip which would entail me finishing this piece of their lives off & presumably starting a new work as part of a collection in this universe. Curious to see what you all think of that even if it's difficult to look ahead? Also trying to get a couple new ships into the works soon enough (definitely some KanKiba, Sasusaku, GaaLee, Shikatema)
> 
> If I do that, I'm also considering taking requests for oneshots and stuff like that in the asks on my tumblr (shadowstrangle) so these guys still get more moments that probably wouldn't fall along the plotline? Or you guys can leave a comment here. Still figuring out a lot of ideas, but for real, writing this stuff has gotten me feeling creative again and I really appreciate all of you that read it! <3


	10. Sweat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I swear Kankuro is not an alcoholic, I just love him and he's a party boy (and also this chapter will come in handy because I've decided to do a Kankuro spin off sometime soon ;) )  
> 2\. Yes I redesigned the entire Kazekage household I needed them to be roommates desperately   
> 3\. I have class in 6 hours and it's 3:30 AM. I think this is one of my favorite chapters yet   
> 4\. This chapter is NSFW

Sakura loves long walks. 

The Sand, although a relatively small and underdeveloped village, has lots of winding paths and alleyways. She’s not sure if Gaara is purposely taking them the long way or not, but she also doesn’t mind. The stars are out tonight, bright and clear, and Gaara’s arm hangs around her, an extra layer of warmth and security as they head towards his house. 

The closer they get to it- the Kazekage dome- the more they see that practically every single light is on. “Who else is in there but you?” Asks Sakura. She’s concerned of a break-in. 

Gaara laughs. “He kept himself scarce the last few times you were there. Kankuro is probably home…” there’s lots of space between them, with empty rooms and workshops flooding the large space, but Kankuro has a bedroom a few doors down. Kankuro will say he lives with Gaara only because it’s rent-free. It’s also because Kankuro’s a good talker, a night owl, and it seems his little brother always has something waking him up. 

And maybe sometimes he just enjoys Gaara’s weird company. 

“Oh. That flew right over my head. I guess it does make sense,” Sakura laughs, “you don’t get sick of each other?”

“We absolutely do. He is stupid, clumsy, and a very loud drunk,” Gaara hums as if describing anyone, unlocking the door. “But he is also very important to me.”

Sakura smiles. They do seem to have a good relationship- that of bickering brothers. She supposes she can’t relate because she’s an only child. 

“I didn’t think he would even be back this early.” Gaara closes and locks the door as both of them take their shoes off. “He’s usually out.”

The house itself kind of has sides. There’s a lot of empty rooms that Kankuro uses on the lower floor. The kitchen and living rooms are down on the first floor as well, while the bedrooms are on the second. 

Gaara makes his way through the first floor with Sakura trailing behind, turning off all the random lights Kankuro had left on. He assumes his brother is nothing less than wasted. 

Gaara’s answer comes from a very loud thumping that trails down the stairs. As expected, Kankuro’s had a few. He has the hiccups, and is using the handrail on the stairs. His face paint is smeared and his shirt is off- it looks like he was in the middle of getting in the shower but never quite made it. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes, clearly motioning to Gaara and Sakura together. “So cute. Sorry. I just. I got home,” he explains, “and I need’t’take a shower.”

With a lurch, Kankuro misses a step, and nearly falls straight down the stairs. There’s not even a gourd in sight- it’s upstairs- and yet there’s sand rushing to catch him when he tumbles forward. 

Gaara is more than surprised when he sees Sakura helping his drunk brother down the stairs before he can even get to him. There’s something sweet about it. 

“Did you have a good night, at least?” Sakura laughs, letting Kankuro put his weight on her. Gaara has no doubt that she might even be stronger than him. 

“Notsogood,” Kankuro mumbles, “such a bad date. Worst sex ever.”

Gaara grimaces. For someone concerned about a date, Kankuro is attracting plenty of attention during his. Nevertheless, Gaara comes to his other side.

“You wenonna date,” slurs Kankuro, pointing to Gaara. “And you.” He points at Sakura. “You both wen’on the date. Was it good?”

“It was. I’m glad the elders ended up requesting Sakura.” Gaara holds the door open to the bathroom so that they can get Kankuro in. He wobbles for a moment before he decides the smartest place for him is to kneel in front of the toilet. 

At Gaara’s words, Kankuro’s head shoots up. “The elders?”

“Who else would have put her name down? That’s who was at the medical corp meeting,” Gaara says as if this is the most obvious thing in the world. 

Kankuro grunts, but doesn’t respond. He’ll live with his matchmaking pride by himself. Besides, in the next thirty seconds, he’s more focused on dry heaving. 

“Don’t shower. Just go to bed after,” advises Gaara, and wearily, Kankuro holds up a thumbs up. After vomiting a few times, he’ll probably see the night much clearer. 

Gaara wants to leave, as he has priorities at the moment, but he can’t quite bring himself to until he sees Kankuro staggering back up the stairs to go to bed. That’s why they live together. Almost killing each other every now and then is worth it. 

“Will he be okay?” Sakura asks skeptically. 

“He’ll be fine. I would apologize, but that is my family. I’m afraid he’s part of the package,” Gaara smiles lightly, and Sakura thinks it’s one of the kindest things he’s said all evening. 

In the distance, a door slams, and Gaara thinks that is the signal that Kankuro made it to bed. “Where were we before my brother joined us?” He teases. Part of him is nervous to take her hand again, as if she’ll say no this time, but he does. 

“We were finishing up a very nice date,” Sakura responds as she follows Gaara upstairs. 

“Of course.” Gaara closes his bedroom door as a precaution. He’s not sure where the night is going, but the last thing he needs is Kankuro stumbling into any other part of it. 

Sakura finally lets Gaara’s jacket slip off her shoulders. Solely because she doesn’t know where any of his clothes go, she just hangs it up near his Kazekage robes. That’s certainly not where it goes, but Gaara has learned Sakura likes to be right. He’ll just let her have this one. 

Gaara finally lets his sand shield slip away. He’d honestly forgotten it was there, and in the back of his mind, he’s berating himself for letting Sakura kiss him when he was covered in sand. It didn’t seem she’d noticed. 

She doesn’t really care much now, either. In fact, the only thing she’s focused on is that she wants to be close to him, sand or not. Gaara suddenly finds himself with her arms around his waist, wrapped around him from behind. He can feel her cheek against his shoulder, where she only stands a few inches shorter than him (Gaara is unconsciously thankful for this. He’s not very tall). If he’s not mistaken, he thinks he can feel her smiling against the thin fabric of his shirt. 

“I had such a fun time,” Sakura hums quietly, fondly. 

Gaara rests his hands over hers. There is a small smile spreading across his lips. “I’m delighted to hear it.”

She squeezes his middle playfully, and gives him a kiss on the shoulder. “You even paid money for anko.”

“I’ll buy you all the anko in the world if it means I get to spend some time with you.” Gaara turns his head to look back at her. 

Sakura knows Gaara to be this unbelievably straightforward person. That’s why whenever he compliments her, it makes her heart swell. He doesn’t lie to her, and he speaks so simply and honestly. It makes her feel seen for who she really is. 

“Were you always this sweet?” She teases lightly. 

“I don’t know.”

There is a gentle pause between them. Gaara wonders how his memories look from her eyes. How had she seen him? When he almost ruined Rock Lee’s shinobi career? When he helped destroy her village? When he nearly killed her?

“I think you were,” Sakura murmurs. Ino always tells her she’s too nice, but Naruto will say that she sees the good in everyone. Sakura doesn’t see Gaara as an exception to that- not when she’s watched him grow and change into somebody so kind, mature, and compassionate. She had seen him grow up from a distance, but she had never dreamed that he would turn into someone like this- a stark difference from the tortured child she’d seen years and years ago. 

“Are you lying?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

Sakura still doesn’t know a lot about Gaara’s personal life. She knows what bits and pieces she’s heard from Shikamaru, she knows about his life as a jinchuuriki, she knows about his friendship with Naruto and his peaceful allyship with many of her comrades. And she knows that only a certain disposition could get him through all of that: the constant craving for compassion and something  _ more;  _ the ability to perceive and understand other people; the ability to love. She’s confident that’s something he’s always possessed.

“No,” she answers confidently, though her voice is still gentle. It’s the same one that talked Gaara to sleep a few days ago, and Gaara thinks it’s the prettiest sound in the world.

Even if Sakura hadn’t answered him, he feels her response in her body. She doesn’t tense at all, is still melted into him like she belongs there. Gaara has everything he needs to know with the notion that Sakura feels safe with him. She has her guard down. There truly cannot be a way that she believes he’s a monster. 

He can’t find the words to thank her for seeing him the way that he is. For once, they don’t exist for him. There’s nothing poetic that he can grab out of thin air, no grand political gesture, no jutsu that spans so wide he never has to make contact. There’s nothing to get him around this feeling of warm longing, nothing else to step over it with. Instead of dodging it, like he believed he had to his entire life, Gaara embraces being cared about. 

Gaara turns to kiss her again, something he’d been waiting to do ever since they’d pulled away in the street. This time, one of his hands rests on the side of her face, cupping her cheek and tilting her chin up towards him. His fingers card gently through her hair, while Sakura’s hand rests on his chest. If his mouth wasn’t so busy right now, he’d be telling Sakura that he thinks she has the loveliest hands in the world. They’re skilled and working hands, protective and intelligent; strong and resilient. Maybe they just remind him of her. 

Their kiss deepens naturally. They don’t have the background of the street to keep up with, now, and Sakura doesn’t have to worry about being seen as the girl necking the Kazekage. There’s only one person’s opinion that she cares about this evening, and by the way his hands are on her waist now, he certainly has a positive one. 

It truly hadn’t been the alcohol, Sakura thinks, as she lets Gaara’s hands travel down her body, resting over her hips like he doesn’t want to overstep. There had been a part of each of them that  _ knew  _ they were compatible, parts of them that used shots to cover up the blatant inklings of attraction. 

But they don’t have to be shy now, as drunk hands morph to confident ones and sloppy lips are now careful and passionate. There had always been something between them. And no matter how hard Sakura tried, it wouldn’t have gone away if she had just stayed in Konoha- this she now knows for sure. 

Gaara’s breath is hot against her skin. Sakura could blame it on his boyish nature, but she’s also flattered by how she winds him up so easily. The sexual confidence she feels with Gaara is unlike that of anyone else she’s been with (and the list isn’t very long.) Maybe it’s not that she knows she turns him on- it’s that she knows he won’t act on it unless she lets him. She’s primarily sure that it’s out of respect and that’s handsome enough in itself, but there’s a sliver of power that she pockets in this moment. She loves it. 

Sakura’s hands have naturally wound themselves around Gaara’s neck, now. Her hands are in his hair and she truly doesn’t really notice the way that they’re stumbling into each other until they nearly knock into the wall. Gaara’s hand comes out in front of them as he pulls her forward so she doesn’t bump her head, but he takes this opportunity to press her up against the brick, one hand on the wall still, on one side of her. 

There’s something so coy and easy about Gaara as he lazily lets his lips trail across her neck. He moves like he’s done this a thousand times, like he’s somehow memorized her body, and they’ve barely been lovers for a week. He won’t tell her he spent some extra time thinking about it while she was gone. 

Gaara is quieter when he’s sober, perhaps because he lacks the confidence to say something daring like he would when he’s off the bottle. However, this time, his movements are much more deliberate. Analytically, he feeds off of every sound Sakura makes, the hitch of her breath, the flutter of her eyelids as he mouths over her jaw.

Gradually, Sakura feels as if her bloodstream is getting warmer. It flows through her body, carrying the same white-hot energy that Gaara wakes up inside of her. She bites her lip to hold back a breathy noise as she feels Gaara’s teeth just barely graze her neck. She can tell he’s being careful not to leave marks, but he always lingers for just a second after as if he regrets it. 

“Gaara, please,” she doesn’t even know what she’s asking for, but her mouth is dry. 

“What?” He’s not stupid, but maybe it gives his ego a rush to hear her voice. When he pulls away, mere inches between them, all he can focus on is her. 

“I want you,” says Sakura, and this is enough to have Gaara’s lips crashing right back onto hers. How can he be seeing someone with a mouth like that? 

“I told you that when you’re here,” he breathes as he unzips her shirt, “you can have anything you want.”

With the exception of lips on skin, the next sounds that fill the room are those of clothes hitting the floor, zippers coming down, buckles coming undone. The bed creaks and dips with the sudden weight of the two of them falling onto it, a pillow tumbling off the side, blankets bunching up carelessly as Gaara climbs on top of Sakura. 

She can feel him pressed up against her, arrogance coursing through her when she knows he’s hard, that he wants  _ her.  _

Sakura wants him just as much, but the confidence she felt earlier doesn’t have any intention of fading, and there’s something she’s been craving since the time she saw him last. With the hand that she has in his hair, she pushes his head down. For a moment, Gaara is confused, but once he meets Sakura’s eyes, she doesn’t have to ask for it. 

He carefully settles himself between her legs, and this is where he’s guilty of leaving marks while he kisses the inside of her thighs, as if to say that they’re his. But it’s premature of him to believe that he was ever running this part of the show, as Sakura tugs at his hair hard enough for him to actually feel something. Gaara hums in pleasure, rather agreeable; he’s just as eager for this as Sakura is.

He gets started with his tongue, keeping the strokes light and languid, a pliant hand resting on the side of her thigh. Sakura’s body relaxes into the sheets, an arm coming to rest above her head, fingers grabbing at nothing in particular as he continues to pleasure her. 

The tighter her grip gets in his hair, the more he knows he’s doing a good job. Sakura’s knuckles are almost white as she writhes under him, moaning breathlessly. Gaara’s fingers are splayed out over her thighs, keeping her legs open while he continues to flick his tongue over her, only to come up when she yanks his hair again. 

“I don’t want to come yet,” she breathes out. Gaara wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I want to ride you.”

Sometimes when Sakura says thinks, Gaara feels like all the air has been sucked out of his body. Now is one of those times. 

“In the best way possible,” he grunts, settling next to her onto his back, “you drive me  _ crazy. _ ”

How can she not? While he lays back, a hand under his head, Sakura’s up on her knees and climbing up on top of him. Gaara lets his head fall back against the pillows so his hands are free to rest on her hips, smoothing up her waist to cup her breasts. He’s not sure why Sakura is frequently the punchline of flat-chested jokes. Perhaps he’s just inexperienced, but that’s something he knows not to bring up right now. 

Gaara is pulled from his thoughts by Sakura’s face inches from his, capturing his lips in a kiss. He groans right into her mouth when she starts to sink down on him, his fingers tightening on her hips. 

Gaara’s large enough that she needs a moment to adjust when she bottoms out, and it’s sinfully attractive to watch him panting under her, lips parted with need for her. But she’s calling the shots with every movement of her hips, slowly pulling up just to grind back down. Every time Gaara tries to say her name, the words just catch in his throat. For someone who doesn’t swear, Gaara lets out a string of curses with each of Sakura’s movements, especially as she starts to speed up. She knocks the breath straight out of him, slim and gorgeous on top of him, her hair falling gently over her shoulders. Her pale skin meets his as her hands splay out on top of his chest. 

He fills her in a way that she can’t explain, too much and just enough all at the same time, hitting a spot that’s just right inside of her as she moves up and down. 

However, Gaara is no stranger to impatience. A lot of the time it wins. Today is no different. “Get off,” he says gruffly, but Sakura’s not offended in the slightest as she pulls off. She predicted it, has a sultry grin on her face, a gasp escaping her lips when he pushes her over and climbs on top of her.

With Sakura suddenly playing a game, he doesn’t feel like he can lose to her without bruising his ego. Gaara pushes back in without preamble, watching while Sakura’s back arches up off the bed, grimacing when her nails dig into his back. He’ll take the scratches if it means she feels this good. 

He starts to move his hips steadily, skin slapping skin, the air hanging heavy and hot above them as they both chase the same thing. Sakura meets his eyes, thick with lust and even heavier with admiration, drawn to her before anything else, and she begs him to ruin her. 

Sakura’s whole body tenses with an unspeakable pleasure when Gaara’s hand makes its way to her throat, fingers curling around her neck and squeezing. When he lets go and she has her air back, she moans lowly between curses of “fuck” and “yes” and “please.”

Both of them are feverishly in sync, breathing heavy and kissing sloppily, lips wet and bitten between the two. With her nails almost drawing blood from his back, Sakura’s body tenses, her mouth suddenly dropping open as she climaxes around him. Gaara himself is gasping, pulling out to make a mess of her stomach. 

His face is red, arms shaking from where he’d been holding himself up on top of her, hair matted to his forehead with sweat, and  _ Sakura.  _ He doesn’t know how she manages to look this unbelievable under him, with a blush dusting her cheeks and her hair perfectly splayed out under her. 

It takes everything in him not to collapse next to her right then, but there’s a gentleman in him that knows he has to clean her off first. It’s the boy in him that reaches for the first article of clothing on the floor, which happens to be the shirt he wore tonight. He couldn’t care less about it as he tosses it back across the room.

Gaara has never known himself to be a clingy person. In fact, he’s always considered himself the opposite, but there is something about Sakura that has him laying down next to her and pulling her into him, kissing the back of her neck. 

What he’s not expecting to hear in that moment is a muffled giggle and an, “Oh, you’re  _ sweaty.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who has two thumbs, class tomorrow, and just wrote six pages of smut? meeeeeeEEEeeeee
> 
> definitely keeping these guys going for a while. Kankuro WILL be getting his own spinoff whether it's a set of oneshots/his own fic and I truly have no idea where Gaara and Sakura will be but they're sticking around, don't you worry
> 
> As always thank you for reading!!! <3


	11. Pillow Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some drabble for you all. Our babies thoroughly enjoyed their date!

“I’m sorry,” laughs Gaara. Normally he would be embarrassed, but everything is different with Sakura. He feels like he can truly be himself around her. “I can go take a shower if you want.”

“Mm, no. I don’t care. I’m sweaty too.” Sakura turns her head just slightly to look back at him. He looks even cuter like this.

Gaara lets his chin fit into the crook of her shoulder, humming in response. “Okay.”

Sakura had always thought of Gaara as someone unbelievably stiff. She can’t believe this is the same guy she’d met years and years ago behind her. Behind his arms that are constantly crossed and the serious expression on his face, there’s someone incredibly sweet. Even more surprising is the more time she spends next to him, the more languid and playful he is. 

She brings a hand behind her to cup the back of his head in a little hug, but soon decides this isn’t enough and turns onto her back so she can properly turn her head and look at him. “You have pretty eyes,” she says after a moment, and the compliment is so foreign to Gaara that he laughs out loud.

“Me?”

“No, the other man in the bed. Yes, you.”

Gaara blinks. Of all the things he’s ever thought about his eyes, beautiful was certainly not one of them. In fact, Naruto will swear up and down it was a joke, but Gaara can still hear him talking about “the guy with terrible bags under his eyes.” Gaara never assumed they were his strong point. 

He smiles genuinely, even though he’s still laughing. “Thank you.”

“Why are you laughing? I’m serious!”

“Because I have the eyes of a demon tanuki, a magnet release user, and a terrible insomniac,” Gaara leans in to kiss her cheek, “and I think you are the first person to ever say something like that. It is very sweet.”

“Oh, get over yourself, don’t act like you don’t see girls looking at you everywhere you go. Did you see when we were in the village earlier?” Sakura scoffs. Maybe this is because she spends time with women in the medical corps, but there’s always a lot of talk about Gaara whenever he passes by. 

Silently, Gaara can’t stop laughing, his shoulders shaking with it. He would be lying if he said he didn’t notice, but everything Sakura says is funny. She makes him feel lighter. “Not everywhere I go! Only some places.” He’s teasing her now. 

“Don’t be so cocky!” She leans over to pinch his ear and Gaara has to duck his head, covering it with his arm. 

“They weren’t kidding! You’re just a mini Tsunade--”

“Shut up!”

“What happened to the Sakura that told me I had pretty eyes? Where did she g--”

Gaara yelps when she grabs hold of his ear and tells him off, but the laughter in his chest distracts him from the pinch. Truthfully, he feels like she makes up for all of the emotions that he lacks, at least, the ones he’s not as confident expressing. 

She’s still going on about something as she hovers over him, but instead of interrupting, Gaara brings his hand up to the back of her neck and gently pulls her down for a kiss. “Besides,” he says, after a chaste peck to her lips, “even if the other girls  _ were _ looking, the only one I really wanted to pay attention to me was you.”

Sakura honestly hadn’t been looking for any sort of validation such as this, but to hear that is incredibly sweet and reassuring. Gaara just says what comes to his head. She doesn’t know how he always makes it sound so good.

“You’re on thin ice,” she jokes with him, kissing him briefly again. “There’s one way to fix it, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Go find me something to sleep in.”

“I should have known.”

Sakura moves so that Gaara can get up. His back cracks when he turns and sits up. Training taijutsu has gotten hard on his body over the years. He’s still fairly new to training as a whole. His entire life, he’d just been used to letting the sand take control.

He feels eyes on his back as he tugs on a pair of boxers. He isn’t so sure what Sakura is looking at. He doesn’t have a broad and muscular back or long legs. Gaara doesn’t even know what girls find attractive, anyway. Sakura finds him handsome and he doesn’t have eyebrows. 

Gaara opens a drawer. “I have… hmm. Do you want black? I have red, too. But those are long sleeved. There might be white somewhere…”

“The long sleeved one. It gets too cold at night.”

“I hate being cold,” Gaara agrees, and hands her the shirt, watching as she pulls it over her head. “You look much better in that than I do.”

Sakura smiles, leaning back a little bit to gaze at him. He’s nice and messy, tired from the day. Cute. Traveling over his body, her eyes can’t help lingering on the jagged scar he has on the side of his chest. She’s seen it before, though continues not to say anything because she knows what it’s from and doesn’t bother to bring up that day. There’s no reason for it. Still, she wonders if it pains him every now and then. 

Instead of thinking about that anymore, she reaches her hands out for him to come to bed. “It’s getting late.”

“Do you know what time your meetings are over tomorrow?” Gaara gives both of her hands a squeeze, before dropping them to get into bed next to her. 

“They’ll probably go on all day, I’m assuming. The medical training takes a lot of time and trials.”

“Can I steal you for lunch, maybe?” Gaara asks. “My meeting is just with the elders on Wednesdays. It’ll be over fairly early.” He squints, deep in thought. “I’ll come by. If you’re busy you can just tell me to go away. Or if, alternatively, you don’t want to.”

Sakura laughs, “I don’t think I can kick the Kazekage out of anywhere.”

“Sure you can. It’s your training.”

Sakura smiles admirably, shaking her head. “Fine, then. I’ll kick you out if I’m in the middle of something.” Something tells her she’d drop everything for that lunch break. 

Gaara nods decisively, and then reaches over to turn off the light. He isn’t sure that he’ll be sleeping, but he wants to make sure Sakura gets her rest. 

“You’re going to bed already?” She asks.

“You looked tired.”

“You’re the one who looks tired.”

“I slept last night.”

“Did you?”

“I did.”

Gaara settles onto his back. Sakura finds her way to his side, and his arm rests around her shoulders. They lay in comfortable silence until Gaara asks, “How long are you in Suna?”

“Until the training is done, I suppose. That’s my mission.”

“I see.”

“Probably another few days. Your shinobi learn fast.”

Gaara smiles a little. “Our academy is much different from yours in their teaching methods. They’re expected to. I mean, at least that’s what I hear. I never went.”

“You didn’t?”

“I wasn’t allowed.”

Sakura almost regrets asking. She should have seen that coming. 

Swiftly, Gaara changes the subject. His childhood trauma truly isn’t a post-sex favorite topic of his. His fingers absentmindedly trace over her shoulder. “Come visit sometime,” he murmurs, and his arm tightens around her fleetingly, “after you go back.”

He can’t possibly ask her to stay. He knows that’s wildly selfish of him. But it’s frustrating because he can’t exactly visit without a political motive- Kage aren’t really supposed to travel otherwise. 

“I haven’t even left yet,” Sakura teases gently. 

“You’re right. I’m being melodramatic.” 

“You’re busy thinking about me leaving when you should be busy thinking about what we’re getting for lunch tomorrow,” Sakura smiles, settling with her head against his chest. 

“You’re right again.”

“Go to sleep,” urges Sakura. She lets her arm lay across his middle. 

Gaara looks down at her, already half asleep on top of him, and he feels warmth in suddenly being needed by somebody.

Soon, he falls asleep too.

~

They both get up around the same time to get ready for each of their respective days. Gaara had woken up earlier, but the heavy weight of Sakura sprawled on top of him had made it difficult to do anything but stay in bed. He supposed it wasn’t a bad thing to spend the early hours of the morning holding her while she slept. 

Sakura had left with a kiss and a breezy “see you later,” leaving Gaara awfully distracted on his way to his meeting with the elders.

Surely, he should have known that they would’ve found out about him going on a date in public, especially with someone not from the village, especially someone they were technically doing business with. He also should’ve known that they would be staring him down as soon as he walked into the meeting. 

His expression is plain as always when he sits across from them. 

“Do you have anything to say about your plans last night, Kazekage-sama?”

“No,” Gaara says matter of factly, “I don’t believe my personal life is pertinent to the running of the village. Are we discussing Chunin exam documents?”

In the corner, a council member scoffs. “Oh, so you think it doesn’t cast a shadow on our village when instead of marrying, the Kazekage is going around with random girls from different villages?”

“It has been the same woman the entire time I have been out.”

“Does it make a difference? You’re not a teenager. You need an heir.”

“How many times do we have to have this conversation?”

“Until you put the sake of the village before a night cap,” the elder hisses.

Gaara’s jaw tenses, but he refrains from saying anything. Half of the people at this table have been waiting years for him to snap. “Temari and Kankuro may have children.”

“Temari’s child will undoubtedly be of half-blood. And Kankuro is a completely different beast. He’s worse than you, stumbling around the village like a drunkard when he’s the Kazekage’s brother--”

“Either we discuss the Chunin exam documents or I call that this meeting is over,” Gaara interrupts coolly. 

“There’s no feasible way for this escapade of yours to continue. You cannot possibly marry her, Gaara.”

Gaara’s eyes darken, but he doesn’t say anything. He just slowly rises from the table, leaving the meeting paperwork behind. He’s a man of his word, isn’t he? And this meeting is finished.

Gaara will swear up and down that he wants to be loved and accepted by his village, but it’s times like these that he wants them to be a little scared of him. He chooses not to go home at that moment. He knows Kankuro will be waking up hungover and embarrassed and will probably not want to talk about it, so Gaara leaves him be. Besides, it’s his day off, and Gaara feels bad interrupting it. 

More than usual, he feels eyes on him in the village as he walks through it. He makes a few stops along the way, different offices, the academy, the greenhouses. Corporately, politically; last night had probably been a mistake. But Gaara refuses to believe that this is another aspect of normal life that he doesn’t deserve. It’s difficult for him to remember this sometimes, but he’s really been trying to take better care of his mind as well as his body as he gets older. Part of this is reminding himself that he is worthy of a good life. 

The walk helps to clear his head. He doesn’t want to let that meeting ruin his day. He takes the long way to the medical center, through the main residential areas of the village so he can greet his villagers. He realizes Sakura may be right- girls do swoon when they see him. For the life of him, Gaara can’t figure out why, because he finds himself fixing his Kage robe in order to see Sakura. He doesn’t want to look a mess in front of her. 

He makes it a point to remain professional when he walks into the large center, full of training stations. It is part of his job to create reports on this program as well while he oversees it, so the walk through it is required. Apparently his presence is intimidating- everyone seems to be working extra hard when he walks past them. 

“Kazekage-sama! What brings you here?” Someone asks. She’s part of a small training group working on reviving a fish. 

“I’m just overseeing the training. You all seem to be working very hard,” Gaara comments with a smile.

A few tables over, he can see a bright pink ponytail. He wants to make a beeline for it, but takes his time making his way towards her. After talking to a few more teams, he finally comes over to Sakura’s. 

She’s laughing at what one of her team members says and doesn’t notice him coming up next to her until someone taps her on the shoulder. 

Sakura all but jumps. “G- Kazekage-sama!” She corrects, laughing lightly. With the back of her hand, she wipes sweat off her forehead. “How do you like the new training program?”

Gaara wonders how he can get used to Sakura calling him anything but his name, especially while he’s heard it so sinfully in her mouth. “I think it’s great,” he says genuinely, “and that you’ve all done an amazing job bringing the Konoha training program here.”

Sakura beams. “Thank you. We’re definitely working very hard.” She knows the praise is for her work, not because Gaara is being sweet, and it’s nice to hear him genuinely appreciate her character. 

She looks around- the training teams certainly look worn out and exhausted. She makes the announcement that they’re taking a midday break, and around her, everyone seems to sigh with relief. 

Sakura takes her gloves off, pausing to take a breather as the teams start to disperse. “How was your morning?” She asks, and with a twitch of a smile she adds, “Kazekage-sama?”

The corners of Gaara’s mouth turn up coyly. “It was interesting, actually.” He turns to walk towards the exit, and Sakura follows. “I haven’t been a good Kazekage this morning,” he admits. 

“Were you late or something?” Sakura asks. 

Gaara laughs. “It was only about five minutes long. I ended it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a loooooot of ideas based off of Gaara's council meeting and the future of their relationship b/c of its political nature, but I'm not sure where I want to take it quite yet. I'd be curious to see what you guys are thinking because there's so many ways this could go. 
> 
> In other news, Kankuro's spinoff has been started and I'm REALLY excited about it - will definitely give you guys a heads up when it's posted. He is my precious baby and it's fun writing from his point of view. Thanks for reading! It's amazing watching the Kudos & bookmarks go up. My 3 AM project is really becoming something, huh? Too funny.


	12. Wishful Thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all aren't ready for this chapter. I wasn't ready for it until I wrote it tbh   
> I wasn't sure how to progress this fic but it certainly needed a few weeks of a skip so there's that   
> Also, I'm not sure that the time frame in this fic is too clear since I've referenced the war a few times and Gaara no longer has Shukaku. It's post-Deidara attack, but instead of the war happening within the year, it takes much longer, and they're all in their twenties (hence Gaara nearly being 21 at the beginning and them being able to go out and drink.)   
> Anyways, enjoy <3

“You ended it after five minutes? What for?” Sakura frowns.

Gaara doesn’t say anything at first as they walk outside into the courtyard. He takes off his Kage hat, tucking it under his arm. It’s making him sweat. Today’s temperature has to be climbing to one hundred. It’s certainly at a round 98 as of now.

“A number of reasons,” Gaara says honestly. As they sit down on a bench together under some shade, Gaara preemptively decides not to tell her about the objections of the council. Perhaps it’s selfish of him. There’s actually no doubt that it is.

“Like what?” Sakura stretches her legs out in front of her, sighing tiredly. It’s been a long day on her feet.

“A medley of things that I didn’t have the energy to listen to.” That’s not a lie. “Are you having a good day?” 

“Something like that. Everyone’s working very hard, I’m just exhausted. I need a hot bath or something,” Sakura sighs, “and some tea, and a good book…” she rests her hands behind her head. 

“Your work is very important here. I’m grateful for it.”

Pleasant silence befalls them. Gaara’s hand accidentally rests over Sakura’s when he sets it down, but instead of moving it he laughs to himself and keeps it there. Sakura goes on about her day, and he gets to listen while his thumb strokes the side of her hand absentmindedly.

Whenever Sakura speaks, she takes his mind away from everything that‘s plaguing him. His dangerous conversation with the council lies far away in his mind as of now as he drifts into casual talk with Sakura.

They sit like this until the hour is up and Gaara walks Sakura back to work. He has the rest of the day to himself, and they make plans for the evening when he kisses her goodbye outside of the medical center.

~

They begin to fall into an eerily domestic routine after this. 

There is no “conversation,” at least not at length. Gaara asks one night, “Are we seeing each other exclusively?” and Sakura asks in return, sarcastic as always, “Are you interested in seeing anybody else?” 

Labels are not quite discussed, but Gaara never comments on Kankuro calling Sakura his girlfriend. Kankuro’s bitter romantic jealousy reflects itself in his relentless teasing of Gaara, but Gaara pretends he does this just because they’re brothers. Besides, he thinks it’s charming that by week three, Kankuro has grown accustomed to greeting Sakura as “Sakura-chan.” 

Behind closed doors and hushed whispers, they’ve become the talk of the village. Sometimes it’s sweet. People who know Sakura often look at them fondly. Kankuro and Temari approve, as appalling as it is to them. Other times, people who don’t know Sakura see her as the whore slipping into the Kazekage’s bed every night to keep her high paying job. 

When nobody is watching, they’ll share tea and breakfast in the morning before going off to work. Sakura’s apartment grows dustier and dustier because most nights she finds herself in Gaara’s bed, so much so that the right has unspokenly become her side. When Gaara can’t sleep in the early hours of the morning, Sakura doesn’t complain. Instead, she turns on the lamp at the side of his bed and is comfortable to lean onto his shoulder while he opens a book to try and lull himself to sleep again. 

When Gaara works late at night, now he has a visitor besides Kankuro who knocks at the door at half past eleven and keeps him company. He’s discovered he can use the desk for much more than just paperwork (Sakura is a part of this discovery.) 

Sakura’s workshops grow shorter as her ninja start to get the hang of all her medical training, while Gaara’s meetings with the council grow longer, unbeknownst to Sakura. 

They know their time with each other is limited, but it becomes even more so as news of the war starts crossing borders. Gaara receives weekly intel that never seems to get more positive, and he’s constantly being pulled into meetings. 

By the end of their third week together, everything is stirring to a boil. Gaara hasn’t slept properly in days out of pure stress. Not only has Gaara been in meetings and intel briefings since practically dawn, the last one had consisted of him being berated by the council over his relationship with Sakura-  _ again.  _ They would lecture him every few days, but today’s had been particularly unbearable. 

Gaara takes a walk on his way home to clear his head that night. The weather reports will say the winds picked up of their own accord, but when Kankuro and Temari look out their windows that night, they can see sand swirling down below in the village, and they know it’s not a typical desert night. 

He honestly forgets Sakura has a key to his place until he senses her chakra inside. He’s not sure what time she’d gotten back, but from the shirt of his she’s wearing and the messy ponytail up on top of her head, she’s been here for a few hours. “Welcome home,” she greets, waving to him from the kitchen. 

Instantly, she can see that he’s exhausted and maybe even a little bit annoyed. Something is certainly weighing on his mind as he tosses his Kage robes on the floor, hat included. He’s just in a long sleeved chain mail shirt and pants now, and if he didn’t look so troubled, Sakura would be calling him handsome. 

“I was going to make you something to eat, you’ve been back so late these past few days… is everything okay?” She asks gently, setting down her cooking chopsticks and heading over to the door. 

She picks up and hangs up his robe. He’ll probably thank her for it in the morning. 

Gaara’s sand shield slides off of his skin. “I can’t deal with the Council anymore. They’re old. They’re annoying. They’re stupid,” Gaara says icily. 

“They’re just old, Gaara, I’m sure--”

“No, they’re  _ stupid. Inbreds.  _ Every last one of them,” Gaara snaps. 

Sakura doesn’t know Gaara to be an angry person. In fact, he’s probably the most subdued person she knows. “What did they say to make you so upset?” Her brow furrows. 

Gaara still is adamant about wanting to keep the Council’s opinion of their relationship out of their relationship, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can go like this. “They talked to me about a number of things. They like to concern themselves with my personal life often. They’re very  _ fickle.” _

Sakura starts to piece it together, now. “They talked to you about us, didn’t they?”

“They don’t belong in my personal affairs. They don’t belong anywhere besides that fucking table, and that’s it,” Gaara rambles, and that’s when Sakura has an inkling as to what’s going on. 

Sakura has known since the beginning of her time here that if this ever went public- which it is starting to very slowly- that there would be some disagreement from the elders. Hell, for all she knows, even from the village. 

“What did they say?”

“Sakura,” Gaara starts, and looks at her, “Forgive me, but I don’t understand why you’re preoccupied with the council’s opinion when you’re presumably leaving as soon as your program ends.” His stress only amplifies his lack of a filter. He almost wants to beat around the bush. The real conversation he wants to have with Sakura is probably impossible. He doesn’t want to bring it up. 

“Oh, so I don’t deserve to know anything that was said about me?” Sakura scoffs. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Gaara sighs exasperatedly.

“Then don’t ignore my question,” Sakura’s eyes narrow. “What did they say? They’ve clearly got you all worked up, because you’re running your mouth like some idiot.” She knows what they’re saying. She’d be stupid not to.

Gaara should have known that Sakura was smart enough to anticipate this conversation, or at least its subject matter. He doesn’t know who he was kidding when he thought it might fly over her head. 

“The council’s opinion hardly matters,” Gaara continues. “That’s not what I’m talking about--”

“Well, that’s what  _ I’m  _ talking about, so I’d appreciate it if you paid some attention,” Sakura suddenly snaps.

“Marry me.”

Sakura freezes where she stands. Briefly, she wonders if Gaara had stopped for a drink on his way home. 

Gaara himself is out of breath. He’s dizzy with stress as he looks at her, and his heart is pounding after that had just spilled out of his mouth. 

Sakura’s jaw clenches. “Gaara,” she says quietly, “come here, please.”

Gaara takes maybe three steps forward. That’s all he can get before Sakura promptly slaps him across the face. The sand, across the room in his gourd, is much too slow to catch up to her, and instead flares around her. 

“I am not part of your political game,” she snaps, while Gaara’s eyes are wide across from her. “What are you on about, anyway? You think I can possibly drop everything right now? I know what they’re saying even if you won’t tell me, like some kind of child. I live three days away. I have a family and a team and an entire  _ village _ to go back to before I plan my next move. There’s a war coming, Gaara. And you want to get married? You want to come in here, acting like an ass, and you have the nerve to ask me to get  _ married?  _ As if that will suddenly fix everything? All the council’s opinions?”

Gaara’s cheek stings from her hand. He doesn’t say anything. 

“Idiot,” jeers Sakura. “Have a little more respect for me, would you?”

Maybe a slap across the face was something he needed. Sakura has taken anything he could say right out of him, and he realizes that no, a haphazard political wedding is not the answer. 

He’d let the council get the best of him. 

“I’m sorry,” he says finally, “You’re right.”

“I know I’m right,” Sakura shoots back. Just like that, she turns to the counter and goes back to stirring rice. “Go and take a shower, or have a drink, or something. Get whatever bullshit you just said to me out of your system. Then you can come back and have a normal conversation with me. Not when you’re like this.”

How does Sakura see through him? Unlike him, she’s so brutally honest, but Gaara never has a problem with seeing where it comes from. All while she takes a tone with him, she’s still making him something to eat and urging him to take care of himself. She lets him know exactly what’s upsetting her, and she’s also telling him how to fix it- something Gaara needs spelled out for him. Perhaps all men need that. 

Gaara just nods, and he goes up to take a shower. Of course, it’s seven minutes per water rations, but he makes it cold and that gives him an extra two. He’d like to wake up instead of being a sleepless corporate zombie for the rest of the night. 

Downstairs, Sakura is chopping vegetables with an unpredictable fervor. The pieces aren’t uniform, they’re haphazard and sort of ugly, but she’ll be tossing them into the pan regardless so she doesn’t care. 

She would be lying if she pretended like she never thought about what she and Gaara were supposed to do. At the very least, she assumed they would go long distance if they really wanted to be together. As of now, she has no reason not to be with him. These past few weeks have been so sweet that she almost doesn’t want to leave, but that doesn’t mean she has any intention of staying. 

There are so many more obstacles to conquer besides the political ones. And Sakura isn’t ready to be anyone’s wife yet. She wonders in the back of her mind if Gaara was ever ready to be anyone’s husband, either. She wagers the answer is no. 

By the time Gaara has come out of the shower, Sakura has wordlessly left him a drink on the kitchen counter. There’s two shots of sake in it, mixed with some lemon juice and some bitters. She’s been nursing one herself all evening but with half of the alcohol, so it hadn’t done anything. 

The drink is clear, and Gaara naively assumes that it’s water when he takes a swig of it. He’s still not much of a drinker, and makes a face at it. “Is this--”

“Just drink it.” Sakura brushes past him to continue cooking. He’s not wearing a shirt. He smells good, like herbal soap. 

“I’m sorry again,” Gaara says, leaning against the kitchen counter while she cooks. “I got ahead of myself. That’s just what the council has been pressing me to do. I know it won’t solve anything, and that there’s more important things going on… I guess you’re just important to me right now. And it’s all I could think about.”

Sakura’s gaze softens at his words. Even though it can get him in trouble, Gaara’s unrelenting honesty can get him out of it, too. Especially when it sounds this kind. “That’s okay. I know you’re stressed,” she says. “And I’m sure this isn’t the first time they’ve spoken to you, and… I admire that you keep putting up with it for me.”

“Sometimes I don’t think you understand what I feel for you,” Gaara says, tipping back more of his drink. “I trust you… infinitely. And I care for you beyond that.”

“I do understand,” Sakura murmurs. She tears her attention away from the stove, moving closer to him. “That’s why it’s been so hard for me to figure out what to do. Especially  _ now.  _ I can’t just sit back and let Naruto look for Sasuke by himself… and I can’t leave my village when something big is clearly coming.”

“I would never expect you to,” Gaara says. He means this with every inch of his chest- he appreciates Sakura’s loyalty as a shinobi. It’s important to him how she values her job and her village. 

“But when I leave,” Sakura says quietly, “I don’t want it to be the end.”

“Neither do I.”

“But I can’t ask you to wait for me, can I? That’s selfish.”

“Sakura,” Gaara says, “for you, I have broken every rule and transcended every possible stereotype of myself.”

“I didn’t--”

“I wasn’t finished,” Gaara smiles gently. “I did that purely out of choice. Because I feel as if you’re someone worth doing that for, someone whose bond that I want to preserve no matter what. And if that takes time, and time apart, who am I to argue?”

Sakura leans against his arm, closing her eyes. “You would wait for me?”

“I would. Unless there came a time when you told me to stop.”

Gaara lifts the arm she’s leaning on so that he can wrap it around her shoulders. 

“I love you,” Sakura says suddenly, pressing a soft kiss to his bare collarbone. 

Gaara can count the amount of times this has been said to him on two hands. 

“I love you, too,” he says, almost in disbelief. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOOOP there it is!!  
> I had a lot of different ideas for this chapter - I considered having them break up actually hahaha but decided against it. Sakura slapping him across the face came to me when I was driving and I couldn't get it out of my head, I knew it needed to happen.   
> With all that being said, the next couple chapters (probably 1-3) will probably be the last ones BUT don't you worry! Kankuro's spinoff will be posted very soon and I'm giving these guys a sequel as well!   
> Thanks for reading!


	13. Full Circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the last one! Get your tissues ready. I think I say this after a lot of chapters, but I take it all back. THIS one was my favorite to write.

Sakura doesn’t miss how Gaara’s breath catches in his chest, or how he pauses so suddenly. It makes her ache to wonder how many times he’s been reminded that someone actually cares for him. 

She tilts her chin up to look at him, how the side of his cheek still flares pink from her hand. “I’m sorry I did that,” she murmurs, smoothing her hand over it. 

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“We’re even now, aren’t we?” He muses. “I ask you to marry me out of stress. You hit me across the face.”

“That is certainly not what lovers do.”

“Were you expecting something relatively normal when you chose to romantically involve yourself with me?” Gaara’s eyes are assumably tired from the contents of his day, but there’s a shimmer of humor in them. She likes his sense of humor: it’s dry and blunt, and it always catches her off guard. 

Sakura rolls her eyes. “Finish your drink.”

In a way, he’s right. Gaara is, frankly, one of the strangest people she’s ever had the pleasure of meeting. But he’s so much more than that; under all of his layers he’s also one of the kindest, the most considerate, and the most compassionate. It seems that he covers all of it up with silent bravado.

Sakura is turning to finish dinner before it burns when Gaara takes her hand, stopping her. “What else?” She laughs. 

“Nothing,” he says, as he pulls her in a bit closer to lean down and press his lips to hers. “I had a very long day and I’m happy to see you,” he says.

The way he speaks always makes her heart flutter. He never cuts corners when he tells her how he feels about her, and she smiles against his lips. “I’m happy to see you too.”

Gaara lets go of her hand to let her do whatever she was doing before. He would normally try to interject and offer his help, but she always says no, so instead he settles for offering his company. He pushes himself up to sit on the counter while she cooks, taking a sip from his glass every so often. 

She had been off today, and it’s evident. Her hair is falling out of a ponytail and she’s not even wearing her headband. She looks good in his shirt, better than he ever would. He now sees what everybody was talking about when it came to love. 

This moment is something he would like to freeze, he thinks. 

“Try this.” Sakura’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts. She’s coming up to him with a bite of something, holding it up to his mouth without preamble. “Is it too spicy?”

Gaara leans forward to take it, chewing thoughtfully. “I don’t find it spicy at all.”

“Are you kidding? I was going to put less!”

Gaara laughs pleasantly, “You just don’t like spicy things. I don’t know why you pretend that you do.”

“I don’t pretend that I do. I just try to eat new things. And every damn thing I buy at the markets down here is just always hot. You guys don’t even have all that much water on hand. Why are you eating so spicy?” Sakura rambles, and Gaara watches with a thin-lipped smile, eyes crinkled fondly. 

By the time dinner is ready Gaara has finished a drink on an empty stomach, and his cheeks are red with it. When Sakura picks on him for it, he insists it must be a sunburn because he can’t possibly be this much of a lightweight. 

Sakura is proved completely right when she asks him a question and instead of answering it, he giggles into a bite of rice. It’s fairly unusual for Gaara to be so bubbly.

She won’t tease him too much, though, because above all, her goal had been to get him to relax. He’s a sweet drunk anyway, insisting to wash the dishes after dinner and telling her he’ll meet her in bed. It takes him an abnormally long time to wash 4 plates and some pans, but she doesn’t say anything. She hears him coming up the stairs soon enough.

He joins her on the bed rather ungracefully, flat on his back, an arm flopping over her. “You got me tipsy,” he admits. 

“Forgive me,” she laughs.

Gaara turns onto his stomach. “What are you reading?”

She’s sitting up in his bed with a book on medical ninjutsu- nothing remotely exciting- but something of interest to her nonetheless. She shows him the cover. “It’s mostly about chakra control.”

“Oh, interesting,” he says genuinely, shifting his position yet again so he can sit up next to her. 

Sakura only knows Gaara to be clingy when he’s sleepy, upset, or drunk. She imagines he’s some combination of all of them when he smushes against her, hooking his chin over her shoulder so he can read the book, too. 

“Should I give you time to catch up?” She asks teasingly. 

“No, no. Carry on.” His voice is muffled by her skin. “I’ll skim.”

“Okay,” Sakura laughs softly, “follow along, then.”

Maybe it’s the day, maybe it’s the liquor. Maybe it’s neither of those and maybe he’s just beyond exhausted, but she can feel his body weight growing heavier and heavier on her. His breaths slow down, and Sakura can’t believe that out of everything he could have possibly done, he’d fallen asleep. 

Fleetingly, she wonders if he’s even comfortable like this. Her shoulder isn’t exactly cushioned, and he’s still sitting up. But she’ll hold him up as long as he needs it. 

It’s usually reversed. Sakura always falls asleep before he does. Gaara stays up reading or working, and it’s only sometimes that he joins her in a few hours of sleep. Usually, it’s almost like he’s keeping her company. She appreciates it, though. 

Aware that Gaara is an awfully light sleeper, she doesn’t want to move him. But there comes a point when she’s way past finished reading and she’d like to turn the light off and go to bed, but Gaara is still slumped over next to her. 

Experimentally, she places her book on the nightstand and turns off the bedside lamp.

Gaara doesn’t move. 

She’s in the home stretch. If she could just lay down…

Grunting sleepily, not only does Gaara move off of her, but when they’re both on their sides he clumsily reaches for her. 

Now she really can’t move, because the dead weight of not only Gaara’s arm around her but his leg between hers is pinning her down. With a content sigh, she supposes she doesn’t mind. 

It’s times like this that she looks at him and wonders, how can she leave? And more importantly, why would she? And how much is really possible here? She had never seen her life anywhere but Konoha, but she doesn’t think she’s strong enough to live between two villages. Not with such distance. 

Sakura reminds herself to focus on the  _ now.  _ If all she worries about is the future, she won’t get the chance to appreciate what’s in front of her (or more importantly behind her.)

Gaara mumbles something unintelligible in his sleep. He always seems to talk whenever he’s dreaming. 

Sakura looks down at Gaara’s arm strewn across her. 

Her eyes fall closed. She loves him. 

~

It seems that evening is fitting to be their last. Neither of them know that Tsunade sent for Sakura days ago, and the hawk will be coming in just a few hours. On the walk home, Sakura will have her mind clouded with the final morning they spent together, the way she found herself wrapped up in him when the sun came up. She’ll think about his voice after he’d just woken up, or the way his hair stuck up in every possible direction. She’ll be able to feel the very same sunlight from the sunrise this morning bleeding through her clothes as if she could feel it right on her skin again, the same way she did when Gaara had been kissing down her neck or stroking between her thighs. 

Gaara will fill out all today’s paperwork with the vision of Sakura’s figure glowing with sunlight. He’ll see her waking up in his rumpled t-shirt and settling closer to him when she sees he’s awake. He’ll hear her asking about his dream, and her giggle ringing through the quiet morning air when he tells her about it. He’ll remember watching her sit up in bed while he brings her up a cup of tea, because she’d made dinner last night. 

In their last few moments before Sakura leaves that afternoon, she’s sitting on his desk in the Kazekage’s office with one last report to turn in. She had told her medical teams she’d bring it to Gaara herself. He’s seated in his chair at the desk. 

“Prompt. Thank you,” Gaara smiles, but he sets it aside. He’s clearly not focused on it right now. “Is Shikamaru leaving with you as well?”

Sakura nods. “He’s waiting outside. I’m sure he’s saying goodbye to Temari still.”

“Or are you the one they’re waiting on?” Gaara teases lightly, but this isn’t a time for jokes, and he wants to make this moment count. He doesn’t know how the war will turn out. He doesn’t know if she’ll want to keep this going. He doesn’t know anything. 

“That’s okay. Let them wait,” he says, standing up to meet her where she’s sitting. 

A month washes over Sakura while she looks around the office. How could she have predicted anything like this? A night of drinks had led to  _ this?  _

Sakura is quiet when he takes her hands. Her chest feels tight. 

“Sakura,” he says, pressing their foreheads together. “Be safe. Be smart.”

She squeezes her eyes shut. “Why would you go on and be that sweet right now? God.” Truly, she doesn’t want him to see her sniffling like this. 

Gaara smiles in return. “Because I love you and I mean it. You are amazing in everything you do. You are strong. You will be fundamental in winning this war--”

“I love you,” she cuts him off, sniffling. “You are so special to me. I want you to- to get good sleep, and not stay at work all day, and eat something sweet every once in a while…”

“I will try my hardest.”

“I’m serious,” Sakura pouts. “And you have to… have some more fun. Let Kankuro take you out. Spend more mornings sleeping in. Write me some letters. Or send me a good book to read. You have so many.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“I’ll see you soon, won’t I? You’ll be in town for the Chunin exams?”

“I will,” Gaara nods. That’s about three months from now if everything goes as scheduled. “That’s soon.”

“I’ll come visit if I have time.”

“You don’t have to rearrange your life for me. I told you I’ll be here whenever you’re ready,” Gaara says gently. 

Sakura sniffles again and nods. She gives him a kiss, then, slow and a little bit salty. 

When Gaara’s hands cup her cheeks, he swipes under her eyes with his thumbs, brushing any tears away. “I will see you in Konoha before you know it. We can do anything you want.”

“I want to go an another date,” she frowns. 

“I can arrange that,” he laughs softly.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

A knock on the door separates them. “Sakura? Are you ready to go?”

Shikamaru’s voice is on the other side of it, muffled through the wood. At least he knows better than to come in. 

Sakura kisses him one last time, as if she’ll forget what it feels like by the next time she sees him. “I love you,” she says again. She doesn’t want him to forget it. 

“I love you, too. Be safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This little fic brought me so much joy. There's actually a lot of good news here:  
> 1\. Kankuro's spinoff is up! It's called 20 Track - Kankuro Collection and you can read it [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26774806/chapters/65315263)
> 
> 2\. Gaara and Sakura WILL be getting a sequel! I am unsure of the time frame or plot of that yet, but they will. There will also presumably be a one-shot of them reconnecting at the Chunin exams, so keep an eye out for that. 
> 
> As always, thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoyed! You can send me requests or ideas or headcanons on my [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shadowstrangle) and I will be happy to take a look at them! Until then, see you soon!


	14. Read This!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this isn't a chapter I'm just plugging the oneshots here hehehehe

Hello!!! There are two oneshots that follow Gaara and Sakura's time in Konoha during the Chunin exams that are in this series! Kankuro's spinoff is right after this but you can skip through that if you'd like and move onto the oneshots if you're only interested in GaaSaku. Either way, happy reading! I recommend subscribing to the series to make sure you don't miss any updates in the AU :) a lot of them are laced together and occurring at the same time, but if you read them in order, you'll be fine! 


End file.
